The Delaware Handicap will be shortened to 1 1/8 miles this year and run in September instead of July, Delaware Park announced on Tuesday.
The $400,000 race, which is open to fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, was recently downgraded from a Grade 2 race to a Grade 3. Traditionally, the race has served as a mid-summer testing ground for high-class fillies and mares bound for Grade 1 races in the fall, but its new date of Sept. 28 will now place it as a potential prep for the Breeders’ Cup.
The Delaware Handicap was run at 1 1/4 miles from 1951 to 2022 before being shortened to 1 3/16 miles in 2023.
The change in distance and date was announced as part of the track’s 2025 stakes schedule, which will feature 18 stakes with total purses of $2.925 million. The track opens its 2025 meet on May 14, running 75 days, largely on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, through Oct. 11. During the summer, Delaware will run 10 cards on Friday as well.
Delaware also announced it will run a new stakes, the $200,000 Delaware Derby, on June 14, as a complement to the $300,000 Delaware Oaks.