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by Frank Vespe
Delaware Park will host an eight-race card on Saturday, July 28. The last two are for Arabians. Post time for the card is 1:15 p.m., and here are some horses to watch:
Race 4 – Lifetime claiming
- Three-year-old fillies, along with older fillies and mares that have never won two races, will go 7 1/2 furlongs on the turf with a claiming tag of $25,000.
- In a race full of runners laboring to get past the never-won-two condition, #3 Gator Girl (4-1) stands out. The three-year-old Prospective filly, trained by Paul McClelland, has three wins from nine starts. The speedy sort has won three of five in 2018, last out hanging on to defeat similar rivals by a neck at a flat mile. The slight reduction in ground figures to her advantage, as does her status as likely speed of the speed, though it’s important to note she isn’t lone speed here and figures to have to do some early work. Jeremy Rose will ride.
- Selections: 3-5-2-8
Race 6 – Allowance/optional claiming
- Fillies and mares three and up will travel 7 1/2 furlongs on the turf in a first-level allowance with an optional claiming tag of $20,000.
- #4 Madame X. debuted like she was going to be something special. The Susan Cooney trainee won her first career start, sprinting on the Laurel Park turf, by nine lengths. That prompted Cooney to try her in four consecutive stakes after that, among them a Grade 3 at Keeneland and a stake at Saratoga; the best of those results was a runner-up effort in the Selima at Laurel Park. Madame X. hasn’t won since her debut, now having lost eight straight, though most recently she ran an encouraging third in an allowance at Penn National. This race’s in-between distance might suit her, too. Mario Pino will ride.
- #5 Cry Uncle (5-1) was a $450,000 auction purchase as a yearling in 2016, and if she’s going to earn back that money, this might be a good place to start. She has one win from four starts, albeit that one an impressive nine-length score at Parx Racing. By Uncle Mo, she’s out of the Dixie Union mare Bayou Miss. This will be her first time on the green stuff for trainer John Servis, who, while generally a win machine (23 percent this year), struggles with first-turf outings, hitting at just four percent. He’ll put promising bug boy Johan Rosado up.
- Selections: 4-11-5-3
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[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Arabian Watch” _builder_version=”3.0.78″ background_layout=”light” border_style=”solid” module_alignment=”left”]
ARABIAN WATCH
Arabian handicapping is provided by our friends at Arabian Finish Line.
In race seven on the card, the 1 1/16 mile allowance race may as well be a grade 1 stakes with the horses that are entered. It is one that the Arabian aficionados have been anticipating. It marks the 2018 U.S. debut of Darley Horse of the Year Paddys Day who had a successful campaign in the UAE at the beginning of this year. While Paddys Day was away, Quick Sand AA and Easter Man, both from Joe and Betty Gillis and trainer Jerenesto Torrez, were winning the early grade 1 races in the U.S. These are clearly the top three horses in the field, but all of them are coming off some type of layoff. Easter Man, who gets Carol Cedeno in the saddle, won a six furlong allowance race on June 11. Quick Sand AA and Paddys Day haven’t run in several months, but there is no doubt they will be ready to go. It should be a good one.
Three- and four-year-olds line up in the $30,000 Delaware Park Arabian Derby (Gr.2) carded as race eight. This is the stakes debut for a number of these horses, and none of them have every raced 1 1/4 miles. Only a handful have run a mile so it’s a tough race to pick. RB Kinkie Boots, while a filly, has beaten the boys, won at over a mile and is undefeated in two starts this year at Delaware Park. With the winning connections of Rosebrook Farm, Keibar Coa and Jerenesto Torrez, she is the horse to beat. Burn Em Joey, also from the Torrez barn and with Carol Cedeno aboard, has two wins and a second from three lifetime starts. If he can go the distance he should be there. There are two complete wildcards in this race, and they both come from trainer Scott Powell. So Big Boy (a colt) and Dance With Me BW (a filly) are both 3-year-olds that broke their maidens at first asking and in impressive fashion. It is asking a lot to have them next race in a grade 2 stakes going 1 1/4 miles, but if they are as good as they look, they could well be in the mix at the finish.
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