Yesterday and today: June 22 racing highlights
A.P. Indian, here winning the 2015 Donald LeVine Memorial at Parx Racing, repeated on Saturday. Photo By Barb Weidl/EQUI-PHOTO
From Staff Reports
YESTERDAY’S NEWS: HE’S GOT TALENT THIRD NEXT-OUT WINNER FROM LYMAN
It’s a standard-issue state-bred stake, the $100,000 Lyman Handicap. Contested June 4 at Parx Racing, it drew a compact field of just six runners after a bevy of scratches.
But it sure has turned into a productive event.
With He’s Got Talent’s win yesterday, by three-quarters of a length in a six-furlong, Pennsylvania-bred allowance, the Lyman has now produced three next-out winners from five to run back. A fourth horse, winner Roxbury N Overton, ran second in the Donald Levine Memorial Stakes in his next start. That leaves Bump Start as the lone Lyman runner not to run back.
Sent off the 1.30-1 favorite yesterday, He’s Got Talent, with Jonathan Gonzalez up, dueled along the rail for virtually the entire race before inching clear in the late stages of the race. After a sharp opening quarter in 21.91 seconds and a half-mile in 44.95 — he led by a half-length after the opening quarter and was second a head after a half-mile — He’s Got Talent stopped the clock in 1:11.17. Artistic Drifter finished second, and Fat Kat was third.
Trained by Jorge Navarro, He’s Got Talent, who finished second in the Lyman, has now won eight of 18 career starts and earned $188,818. The son of Talent Search was bred in the Keystone State by Ken and Sarah Ramsey.
[su_divider top=”no” style=”double” size=”9″]BY THE NUMBERS
- HANDLE:
- Parx Racing: $2,022,263
- CLAIMS:
- Parx Racing: 5
- MULTIPLE WINNERS
- TRAINERS
- Guadalupe Preciado, 2 wins at Parx
LOOK AHEAD: TODAY’S RACING
- Tracks in action today: Delaware Park, Penn National, and Charles Town.
- Six runners are set to tangle in this afternoon’s $50,000 Stanton Stakes at Delaware Park. The grassy, 1 1/16 mile test for sophomores carries a $50,000 purse. Aquaphobia (5-2) figures to take much of the betting action. The Giant’s Causeway colt, trained by Arnaud Delacour, rallied nicely to be second last out in the James W. Murphy Stakes on Preakness day at Pimlico. It was just the third start of his career; he’ll have Joe Bravo up. Also here is He’ll Pay (8-1), a Haynesfield colt trained by Larry Jones who was fifth in the Murphy after a bit of traffic trouble. Jones’s go-to rider at Delaware, Gabriel Saez, has the mount; the pair have won with 44 percent of their mounts together in the last 60 days.
- Another Larry Jones trainee, Istan Is the Man (7-5), gets the nod as morning line favorite in the sixth race at Delaware, a maiden special weight event going six furlongs on the main track. The son of Istan was fourth on debut at the Fair Grounds back in March and makes his second career start today with Gabriel Saez up. Two other runners possibly worth a look here are Piercinator (12-1), who ran fourth on debut at Penn National after being reluctant to load, and first-time starter Forest Ranger (5-1), a Forestry colt trained by Gary Capuano.
- Ollie Figgins trainee Red Hot Diva (1-1) is favored in Charles Town’s Wednesday feature, a $27,000, 7 furlong allowance for fillies and mares. The Devon Deputy mare, who’s earned $334,300 in her career, thrashed similar last out and was second one race prior in the Original Gold Stakes. But among her rivals today is Candy Man’s Girl (5-2), who won the Original Gold and owns eight wins from 14 career starts.
