It was an intense moment at Delaware Park in Wilmington, Del., on Saturday during the sixth race, when a deer crossed the track in front of the oncoming field around the first turn.
Arjay, who was setting the pace under jockey Carol Cedeno, had to be slightly steadied because of the incident. Luckily, the deer scampered across the turf course safely, and no horses or jockeys were harmed. A second deer, positioned near the outside rail, went in the other direction.
There was no inquiry, and the race went on as usual, with Major Offensive winning the maiden claiming event as the favorite for trainer Richard Hendricks.
The previous weekend, a similar situation occurred at The Meadows harness track in Washington, Pa. Two deer darted across the track as the field raced down the stretch for the first time. No deer, horses or humans were harmed during the ordeal and that race also went on as usual…