Horse racing back at Ocean Downs for summer season

By Jack Chavez Staff Writer

(June 9, 2023) It looks like Memorial Day Weekend horse racing is here to stay at Ocean Downs Casino.

A year after opening a little earlier than usual, the casino did it again this year with plans still to conclude the season the Wednesday after Labor Day, said general manager Bobbi Sample.

Ocean Downs has several promotions planned for this season including its biggest, Quacks on the Racetrack.

“All season long you can buy ducks to benefit local charities,” Sample said in an email. “At the end of the season people can return with their ducks to throw them in the bed of a truck as it rides down the racetrack. We will pick one duck whose owner will win the Ford Frontier truck.”

The popular Camels & Ostriches promotion return on July 2. Other promotions this year include carriage rides, jugglers, face painting, the Budweiser Clydesdales and a petting zoo, Sample said.

This year horse racing will be featured on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday throughout the season. The first race will begin around 7 p.m. Thursday races will be added in July and early August.

Ocean Downs is one of many popular spots along the East Coast for horses and their trainers during the summer. But, the offseason can be just as busy for them.

Ahead of the season, the prep work that nervous because I’ve caught marlin before, but I didn’t realize the significance until we tapped the leader and [officially] caught the fish.”

Chris said the marlin was healthy and they wanted to get it back into the water quickly, so they didn’t measure it. He said they estimated it to be about 73 inches and close to 70 pounds.

He knew they had landed the coveted first white marlin of the Ocean City fishing season and the group was ecstatic. The accomplishment was announced over the boat’s radio and immediately the crew started receiving congratulations from others out on the water.

“It’s a cool thing that everyone takes seriously around here,” Chris said.

“It’s a pretty special fish … It was a nice, fun day on the boat for us and good for the business,” Joe said. “The significance of the first white didn’t sink in until there was so much buzz. It’s pretty important for the fishing community and Ocean City, and to be able to do it with my son is pretty special to me.”

Even though it was only about 1 p.m., the foursome had already boated plenty of tuna and released the white marlin, so they headed back to Talbot Street.

They will receive $5,000 from the Town of Ocean City for the catch, a prize awarded annually.

“We’re proud and honored to reel in the first for Ocean City,” Joe said. “[Chris is] a salty young man. I have faith in him … The respect that he’s getting from his peer group trumps all the money.”

This will be Chris and Joe’s second full season as owners of the Restless Lady II, a 2004 custom sport fisherman built using a 52-foot Henriques Hull.

Chris, 29, an Ocean City resident, runs the boat. He has been fishing professionally since 2011.

Most of the groups that charter his boat fish for tuna, but Chris said he catches and releases about a dozen or more marlin each year.

He plans on competing in several Ocean City tournaments this year, including Tunas and Tiaras, Big Fish Classic, Poor Girl’s Open, Heels and Reels, the MidAtlantic and White Marlin Open.

Joe, 62, who said he has been bay fishing most of his life – but the last few years more offshore – lives in Horntown Virginia, near Chincoteague.