September 1 racing highlights: Divining Rod favored in return
Divining Rod in the Preakness post parade. Photo by Laurie Asseo.
From Staff Reports
YESTERDAY’S NEWS: Sapphire Seas romps to Del. Park victory
Final Betrayal was the morning line favorite in yesterday’s Delaware Park feature, a $38,000 allowance contest.
But bettors made Sapphire Seas the post-time favorite, and the three-year-old Proud Citizen filly lived up to her billing, rolling to a 2 1/2 length score. Sapphire Seas paid $3.40 as the 7-10 choice and topped an $18.60 exacta with 14-1 shot Don’tstoptheparty in second. Final Betrayal, who stumbled at the start of the race, was never much involved.
Under jockey Gabriel Saez, Sapphire Seas broke sharply to the lead, with Secret Garden pressing her from the outside. Those two led the field through a quarter-mile in 22.20 seconds and a half in 45.39. Secret Garden couldn’t stay with her rival, dropping back after a half-mile and ultimately finishing last; but no one else could stay with her either. Sapphire Seas opened a clear lead after disposing of Secret Garden and was never really threatened again. Running time for the six furlongs was 1:10.78.
Sapphire Seas, trained by Larry Jones and a homebred for him and his wife Cindy, now has won three of four career starts and earned $76,600.
[su_divider top=”no” style=”double” size=”9″]BY THE NUMBERS: HANDLE
- Delaware Park: $1,462,292
TODAY’S ACTION
- Tracks in action: Delaware Park, Penn National, Charles Town
- Divining Rod (3-2) was in the upper echelon of 2015 three-year-olds, winning the Grade 3 Coolmore Lexington at Keeneland and then running third in the Grade 1 Preakness. In all, he won or placed in six graded events as a sophomore. He makes his long-anticipated return to action, after a year away, today at Delaware Park and is favored to take the eighth race, a $38,000 allowance test going one mile 70 yards on the main track. Trained by Arnaud Delacour for Lael Stables, the four-year-old Tapit colt has two wins (and six placings) from nine starts with career earnings of $528,004. Daniel Centeno will ride.
- Back in June, Fran Campitelli trainee Desi Dublin won a Pimlico maiden race and then headed north to knock down an allowance condition at Penn National. The Linda Albert-trained Shinkansen (4-1) ran second in that maiden event, and Albert apparently took note: Shinkansen, who broke her maiden at Laurel, is one of a quartet of horses with a big shot in today’s fifth at Penn National, a $33,300 PA-bred allowance test. Tyler Conner will ride the sophomore Pure Prize filly, who has a win and a second from four starts. Other contenders here include Ransom Past Due (5-2), third against similar in her last two; Haitian Haven (3-1), a first-out winner who ran second against similar in her last; and the veteran Diadema (7-2), second against similar last out.
