STANTON, Del. -- Not even trainer Tommy Voss could help himself. As John's Call entered the winner's circle following a 1 1/2-length victory in his seasonal debut Sunday at Delaware Park, Voss joined hundreds of fans in clapping his hands together.

The occasion was merely the $69,100 Cape Henlopen Stakes, but the significance of the victory could not be understated. John's Call, now 10, looked much the same as he did last year, when he won two Grade 1 stakes and the hearts of thousands of racing fans in a storybook year. Ridden by Jean-Luc Samyn, he looped the field on the far turn of the 1 1/2-mile turf race, then easily turned back Grundlefoot in a field of nine older horses.

John's Call, a Kentucky-bred gelding by Lord at War, returned $3.40 after finishing in 2:29.48 over a firm turf.

"That was unbelievable, wasn't it?" asked Douglas Joyce, whose Trillum Stable owns John's Call. "I mean, a 10-year-old."

Joyce said Voss would like to follow the same path as last year with John's Call, meaning the Grade 1 Sword Dancer Handicap at Saratoga Aug. 11 is next. Last year, John's Call drew off an also-eligibles list to win the Sword Dancer by 9 1/4 lengths.

Last fall, after finishing third in the Breeders' Cup Turf, then ninth in the Japan Cup, John's Call was given several months off at Voss' Maryland farm. He returned to serious training in early April.