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by Frank Vespe

Today’s nine-race card at Delaware Park includes one event, the last, for Arabians. Post time is 1:15 p.m. Some horses to watch:

• The fifth is a maiden event for two-year-old fillies — Delaware Park seems to have the jump on its nearby rivals in terms of writing two-year-old races. The probable favorite and most likely winner is Vibrant Spirit (3-1), a Ben Perkins trainee who ran second on debut. This race will help bettors and fans assess the quality of her first race, in which Madame X won by nine lengths but in a moderate final time. Vibrant Spirit also has the advantage here of having raced already, so the stretch-out to 7 1/2 furlongs on the turf shouldn’t be quite so daunting. Trainer Michael Dickinson has one in here — Ms. Rubin (5-1) — that also figures to take some money, but the most intriguing debut runner is Drybrook Partytime (10-1), a daughter of Desert Party. Trainer Mike Gorham has a postive ROI with first-time starters, and this runner is a half-sister to stakes winner Set’n On Ready.
• In the seventh, an allowance contest, Tiz Our Time (9-2) is worth a gander at fair odds. She ran a big one last out at long odds — against the boys — in the Virginia-bred White Oak Farm Stakes. She ships in from Laurel and brings jock Jevian Toledo with her, and a repeat of her last would get the money here.

ARABIAN WATCH

Arabian handicapping provided courtesy of our friends at Arabian Finish Line.

Today’s Arabian race is a $15,000 claiming race at a distance of 6 furlongs for a purse of $10,000. It’s a field of evenly matched horses that have mostly been running in tougher competition, and they are all looking for a softer spot. Desert Honour is the only one in the field that finished in the top 3 last time out so he’s the obvious favorite. Champions Lynn Ashby conditions the horse and Ricardo Chiappe is aboard. Chndakasexpress is a consistent horse who typically finishes better than his 6^th place in his last start. Fine Hesst, also from the Ashby barn, showed some talent last year, but has had almost a year off. If he is ready, he could get a piece of it.

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