Delaware Park horses to watch: June 29
Off at Delaware Park. Photo © www.HoofprintsInc.com.
by Frank Vespe
Post time for today’s nine-race Delaware Park card — the ninth is for Arabians — is 1:15 p.m. The featured eighth race is a $38,000 allowance contest on the turf.
Some horses we’re curious to see:
- That eighth race (post time 4:45) is an intriguing contest going one mile 70 yards on the lawn with a field of eight, after scratches, set to face the starter. The most interesting of the group is the Larry Jones trainee He’ll Pay (7-2 morning line). This Haynesfield colt won the Rushaway Stakes on the synthetic last April and later placed in the Grade 3 Kent over the Delaware strip and the Grade 2 Commonwealth Derby at Laurel Park, beaten a length-and-change in each. He hasn’t raced since November but has been training forwardly for his return; trainer Jones does well off similar layoffs. Mitchell Murrill will ride.
- His top rival in that race is the Michael Stidham trainee Tiznoble (3-1), who’s won four of seven in his brief career with a pair of seconds, one of which came in the grassy Woodchopper Stakes at the Fair Grounds. He’s been away since March but likewise has been training well for this one. Ricardo Chiappe will ride.
- The seventh (post time 4:15) is a $30,000 claimer for horses that have never won two races, and it’s attracted a pretty interesting group of runners. The 2-1 favorite is Midway Gold, dropping out of allowance company after three decent efforts into this race for trainer Larry Jones. But the horse we’re most curious about is Far From Awesome (8-1). This Scott Lake trainee is owned by Repole Stable — a combination we don’t often see — and won at first asking against maiden claimers at Monmouth. That debut, though, came nearly 11 months ago, and this Awesome Again colt hasn’t raced since. Lake has a good record and a postive ROI bringing horses back off long layoffs and puts Jomar Torres, with whom he’s had some recent success, in the irons.
