August 17 racing highlights: SOUTHERN GIRL FAVORED IN DEL PARK FEATURE

TODAY’S ACTION: SOUTHERN GIRL FAVORED IN DEL PARK FEATURE

Southern Girl (6-5), a $775,000 auction purchase who has won two of three career starts, is a solid favorite to make it three of four in Delaware Park’s featured eighth race this afternoon, a $38,000 allowance going six furlongs on the main track.

Southern Girl, by Tapit, is out of Ponche de Leona, by Ponche, and is a half-sister to Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Mucho Macho Man.  She broke her maiden at first asking last year at Delaware Park before running third against allowance foes at Keeneland.

Away from October 2015 until July 24 of this year, she returned running, taking an allowance at Laurel Park by three lengths after breaking a step slowly.  As she did in that July 24 race, Southern Girl will have Carol Cedeno in the irons.

Southern Girl is trained by Larry Jones, who is 17-for-47 at the meet, for Fox Hill Farms.

Kittery (2-1), who recently bested allowance rivals at Parx, is the second choice in the field of seven…

Linda Rice shipper Wild Impulse (2-1) is favored in Delaware’s sixth race, a maiden special weight sprint on the main track.  The Wildcat Heir colt is winless in five tries and has not raced since finishing second at Aqueduct in late January.  Among the intriguing firsters in the field are Larry Jones trainee Wainscott (3-1), a Scat Daddy colt, and the Arnaud Delacour-trained Speightful Song (4-1), who cost $300,000 at auction…

Penn National’s sixth race is a $29,500 allowance going one mile on the main track, and it’s a wide-open affair.  Claudio Gonzalez trainee Big House (3-1) is the lukewarm favorite after finishing third or fourth in four tries against allowance rivals in Maryland.  Another Gonzalez runner, Retire Fifty Five (4-1), is second choice after defeating claiming rivals last out.