Four was the lucky number on closing day at Delaware Park Thursday.

That’s four, as in the number of wins that five-pound apprentice rider Francisco Martinez recorded on the day and the number of times Spikezone won during the 2024 meet, tied for the meet high.

Fittingly, those two combined for the eighth race victory. Spikezone, off at 1-9 in a four-horse field, carried Martinez to a front-running, 9 ¾-length score in a starter optional claimer.

The win capped a banner meet for both rider and horse, and, for that matter, trainer Jamie Ness. In limited local action, Martinez won with 16 of 51 mounts, good for 10^th most. With a gaudy 31% strike rate, Martinez certainly opened some eyes, including those of leading trainer Ness, who saddled three of Martinez’s four wins on the day.

Ness won 59 races from 198 starters, both more than twice any other trainer. His nearest pursuers were Juan Arriagada (26 wins) and Gary Capuano (25).

Spikezone, meanwhile, concluded the meet with four wins from five starts and over $133,000 in earnings for owners Troy Johnson, Charles Lo, and Jagger Inc. He’s 9-for-12 this season and 12-for-23 in his career and just shy of $400,000 in lifetime earnings.

Spikezone’s four wins on the meet brought him level with four other horses atop the wins leaderboard: Doin’ittherightway, Intrepid’s Legacy, Paper Mansion, and Tweet Away Robin. Of that group, Paper Mansion – like Spikezone a Jamie Ness trainee, this one for Jagger Inc. and Longball Stables LLC – was the only one to go a perfect 4-for-4.

Jaime Rodriguez defended his leading rider title comfortably. The veteran won with 82 of 267 mounts, well clear of Julio Hernandez, who won 62 times in a productive first season in Delaware. Bug riders Gabriel Maldonado (47 wins) and Ederik Robles (42) finished third and fourth by wins, respectively.

The oldest horse to win during the meet was Two Thirty Five. The 10-year-old Stay Thirsty gelding won a claiming race June 26 for owner-trainer Andy Simoff. The veteran has 16 wins and over $770,000 career earnings.

On the flip side, there was plenty of two-year-old action, with trainer Gary Capuano getting the best of it. Capuano won 12 races with two-year-olds during the meet, twice any other trainer. The best of his babies was It’s Hammertime, a Vekoma colt he trains for Eagle Up Stables, London Reid Thoroughbreds, and Non Stop Stable. It’s Hammertime won all three of his starts, including the First State Dash and the Rocky Run Stakes.

On the distaff side, the juvenile on everyone’s mind was Caprice. Trained by Cal Lynch – whose six wins with two-year-olds at the meet were second to Capuano’s haul – Caprice won her first three starts, sweeping the Delaware certified Blue Hen and Small Wonder Stakes. A homebred for Runnymoore Racing LLC, she tasted defeat for the first time when second to Beautiful Blome in the White Clay Creek Stakes.

Runnymoore concluded the meet as the leading trainer by purse earnings, its 10 wins and 48 starts putting over $532,000 in the bank. Owner-trainer Juan Arriagada, second in the owner standings by purse, led all owners with 17 wins.

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