Delaware Park horses to watch: June 21

by | Jun 21, 2017 | Breaking, DE Racing, Delaware, Racing

Off at Delaware Park. Photo © www.HoofprintsInc.com.

by Frank Vespe

There’s a 10-race card on tap at Delaware Park this afternoon, with the last of those being for Arabians. Among the more interesting races is the seventh, a $34,000 maiden special weight going 7 1/2 furlongs on the turf. A couple horses of note:

  • #1 So Charming (10-1 morning line) is by turf ace English Channel out of a mare who was graded stakes-placed on the lawn. Trainer Michael Matz doesn’t win all that often with firsters — nine percent — but when he does, they score at a price; he has a positive ROI. One negative: she has a bit of a spotty record of works, with one in January, then two months off, then three works, then another month off.
  • #5 Larkin (10-1) is a beautifully bred daughter of Bernardini who is a half-sister to four horses that won or placed in graded/Group stakes. She’s truly bred to be any kind, and trainer Mike Stidham’s charge has been training well enough for her debut here.
  • #7 Mini Pearl (10-1) is another Matz trainee making her first start. She’s a daughter of Union Rags whose dam, Camella, was graded stakes-placed on the lawn.
  • #8 Proud Reunion (5-1) was third last out in her second career start and has had excuses in each of her two tries to date. The Tom Proctor trainee hasn’t raced since last September but shows a string of progressively longer works in preparation and picks up jockey Feargal Lynch.

The eighth race is a first-level allowance for older fillies and mares going six furlongs on the main track. While Taurine, now in the Arnaud Delacour barn, is the 2-1 morning line favorite, another horse worth a look is the Keith Nations trainee #5 Midday Prayer (6-1). The lightly raced Redeemed filly had to drop down to the maiden claiming ranks to break her maiden, which she did easily two back, and in her last, against allowance foes, she ran second to the talented, stakes-placed You Know Too.