'Jackpot' Comes of Age for Delta Downs

Officials at Delta Downs Racetrack Casino & Hotel didn't know what to expect when in 2002 they added a $500,000 stakes for 2-year-olds scheduled about a month after the Breeders' Cup World Championships.

The first Delta Downs Jackpot Stakes, run a one mile, was won by Al Eisman's Outta Here, who was trained by the late Bill Currin and ridden by Kent Desormeaux. Since then it has been run 12 more times—the race was scrapped in 2005 because of Hurricane Rita, which caused about $50 million in damage to Delta Downs—and two of its winners have gone on to win Breeders' Cup events: Big Drama won the 2008 Jackpot and the 2010 Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I), while Goldencents  , the 2012 winner, captured the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (gr. I) in 2013 and 2014.

The grade III Jackpot, which has been worth $1 million in most years, hasn't produced a Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner, but it has produced 12 starters for an average of one per year. Over the last three years six starters have competed in the Kentucky Derby, and once again this year's race Nov. 21 offers "Road to the Kentucky Derby" points (10-4-2-1) to the first four finishers.

This year's Jackpot will be held Nov. 21. It attracted a field of 10 including morning-line favorite Exaggerator, who finished fourth in the Oct. 31 Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I).

LAMARRA: Exaggerator Morning-Line Choice for Jackpot

Delta Downs announcer and television analyst Don Stevens said there's no question the Jackpot has raised the national profile of the racetrack casino located in southwestern Louisiana near the Texas border. He said the race is being heavily promoted this year through a series of radio and TV interviews as well as social media.

"We are promoting it more and more," Stevens said Nov. 17. "We've really saturated the whole country. It gives people something else to be interested in after the Breeders' Cup."

The Jackpot, at first held on a Friday night, was last held in the evening in 2009, when total pari-mutuel handle on the program was $2.16 million. Stevens said the move to a Saturday afternoon in 2010 had an immediate impact that carried through to last year's Jackpot card.

Total wagering jumped to $3.81 million in 2010 and $4.43 million in 2011. In 2012 handle dropped a bit to $4.35 million, but rebounded in 2013 to $5.04 million. Last year's $5.20 million was an all-time one-day handle record for Delta Downs.

"I would say it did OK from 2002 to 2010, but when we went to a daytime program it really took off," Stevens said."

The grade III Delta Downs Princess Stakes for 2-year-old fillies offers points (10-4-2-1) on the "Road to the Kentucky Oaks." Last year Delta Downs was surprised to get Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I) Take Charge Brandi in the Princess, which she won; her trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, also grabbed second in the Jackpot with Mr. Z.

"Last year we got some Breeders' Cup horses," Stevens said, "but I think Lukas is maybe an exception. Most guys don't want to run back three weeks after the Breeders' Cup."

Earlier this year Mr. Z raced in the Derby.

"If (the points) are close at the end, it could be important to have those 10 points," Stevens said. "It used to be if you won the Jackpot, the $600,000 in graded earnings stamped your ticket."

The Kentucky Derby and Oaks fields are no longer based on graded stakes earnings.