Delaware Park Racing Notebook 2018: Vol. 11
Elate won the G2 Delaware Handicap. Photo by Allison Janezic.
by Doug McCoy
Every week during the Delaware Park racing season, The Racing Biz will publish The Delaware Park Racing Notebook. This page is designed to give helpful information to both horseplayers and horsemen about the racing picture at Delaware Park from the past week.
In the notebook, you’ll find:
- “Horses to watch” section highlighting both horses who have shown promise those who may have had poor “trips” in their last starts.
- “Clocker’s Corner” where track clockers will point out horses who have worked in noteworthy fashion during the past week.
- Track tendencies or biases during the week’s races. While it would be great if every race track was completely fair and even and an equal number of speed horses, stalkers, and closers won each day, observant handicappers know this just isn’t the case. Every track’s tendencies and biases (favored styles) change and vary, often from one racing program to the next due to any number of factors, most notably weather. While these changes are often minor, there are also days where a certain type of horse (like a speed horse) has a decided advantage, and there also days where one portion of the racing strip is a better spot to race over (like the inside) than another.
- Leading trainers and jocks and who’s been hot during the last week.
HORSES TO WATCH
- ASTRO POP KID – This one was boxed into the stretch and was still a little green in his second start but is improving with each outing and looks like he’s sitting on a winning effort next race.
- SWEEPING IN – Scat Daddy maiden from the powerful Graham Motion barn made a nice little middle move in his debut before finishing evenly. Has a nice way of going and like most Motion babies, should move forward off that first start.
- TEN HUT – Bobbled at the break of last then came from far back to easily be second best to a runaway winner most recently. If this one catches a field with enough speed in it he’ll be tough next out.
- ANGEL AT WAR – Dueled for a half, drew off to mid stretch then just failed to hold on late. Sharp right now.
CLOCKERS’ CORNER
- MISS DEPLORABLE – Baltazar Galvan filly who won a stake at Monmouth last time out continues to hold her good form with a solid half mile work of :48.20 on 08/06.
- A JUMPINANDA JIVIN – This Pennsylvania-bred maiden who finished fourth in his last start zipped through a quick five furlongs in 1:00.80 for Lynn Ashby on 08/06. Watch for this one in a state-bred maiden race at Parx or Penn National.
- JIFFY JOSH – Worked a quick half of :47.60 for Gerry Bennett on 08/08. Second last out, he looks ready to win.
- PROSPECTIVE LADY – Another Bennett trainee, this one who won at Presque Isle last start showed she’s still doing well with a strong half-mile drill of :48.80, best of 32 horses working four furlongs on 08/11.
JOCKEYS AND TRAINERS
It should come as no surprise that jockey Carol Cedeno had the most wins among the local riders last week and Angel Suarez wasn’t far behind.
Cedeno has been winning at a steady clip most of the meeting, and last week was no exception as she booted home five winners from 24 mounts for a 21 percent strike rate. Suarez took four wins from 19 mounts while Trevor McCarthy, Keiber Coa, Luis Ocasio and Jeremy Rose each had a pair of winners.
Cedeno and Suarez are still one-two in the standings with 54 and 40 wins respectively. McCarthy is slowly but surely regaining some of his old clients around the Mid-Atlantic since returning to the area from New York and now has 12 wins for the meeting. Rose hasn’t been riding a lot of horses but also seems to be picking up some steam as the meeting progresses.
The local rider atop our alternative rankings — which combine wins, win percentage, earnings per start, and return on $2 wagering investment into a single metric — is Daniel Centeno (322.51 points). He leads the colony in win percentage and earnings per start and is second in wagering ROI. Cedeno is second in our rankings, and Suarez checks in fifth.
RANK | JOCKEY | TOTAL POINTS | WINS | WIN PCT. | EARNINGS/START | $2 ROI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Centeno Daniel | 322.51 | 20 | 32.26% | $7,526.94 | $2.32 |
| 2 | Cedeno Carol | 281.91 | 54 | 23.58% | $4,085.63 | $1.48 |
| 3 | Torres Jomar | 237.01 | 9 | 20.45% | $7,319.66 | $1.62 |
| 4 | Pino Mario G | 231.48 | 12 | 18.75% | $5,774.30 | $2.02 |
| 5 | Suarez Angel | 227.09 | 40 | 19.80% | $3,084.31 | $1.37 |
| 6 | Rosado Johan | 223.95 | 14 | 21.21% | $3,743.56 | $2.24 |
| 7 | Lynch Feargal | 220.29 | 7 | 19.44% | $7,130.75 | $1.42 |
| 8 | Pedroza Brian | 218.76 | 9 | 25.71% | $4,718.86 | $1.62 |
| 9 | Cintron Alex | 211.21 | 16 | 18.39% | $4,828.13 | $1.64 |
| 10 | Ortega Jomar | 210.66 | 10 | 19.23% | $2,447.88 | $2.71 |
| 11 | Marin Augusto A | 181.50 | 11 | 15.71% | $3,414.50 | $1.82 |
| 12 | Swan Kirsten | 167.66 | 4 | 22.22% | $3,161.11 | $1.34 |
| 13 | Garcia Jose Angel | 167.03 | 18 | 14.29% | $2,519.90 | $1.52 |
| 14 | Coa Keiber J | 159.63 | 21 | 12.35% | $2,526.18 | $1.33 |
| 15 | Toledo Jevian | 158.06 | 3 | 12.50% | $4,457.92 | $1.48 |
| 16 | Mccarthy Trevor | 146.28 | 12 | 13.33% | $3,675.44 | $0.92 |
| 17 | Panell Dyn | 140.15 | 5 | 11.36% | $2,486.14 | $1.70 |
| 18 | Uske Shannon | 139.62 | 9 | 12.86% | $1,872.86 | $1.58 |
| 19 | Vargas Jr Jorge A | 137.20 | 4 | 9.52% | $4,330.24 | $1.16 |
| 20 | Betancourt Jose R | 126.02 | 7 | 8.14% | $1,371.19 | $1.89 |
| 21 | Rose Jeremy | 125.73 | 4 | 8.89% | $3,338.04 | $1.26 |
| 22 | Hamilton Weston | 125.38 | 3 | 10.00% | $3,191.97 | $1.26 |
| 23 | Paz Robert | 122.52 | 4 | 8.16% | $1,400.41 | $1.93 |
| 24 | Russell Sheldon | 118.47 | 2 | 11.76% | $4,340.59 | $0.56 |
| 25 | Montanez Rosario | 104.18 | 2 | 10.00% | $2,178.75 | $1.10 |
| 26 | Rodriguez Pablo | 101.78 | 7 | 10.29% | $1,898.60 | $0.86 |
| 27 | Powell Ryan | 88.73 | 2 | 7.14% | $1,849.36 | $1.04 |
| 28 | Lara Ezequiel | 78.94 | 3 | 5.17% | $1,371.64 | $1.06 |
| 29 | Quiles Antonio | 76.24 | 4 | 7.69% | $1,721.96 | $0.60 |
| 30 | Acosta J D | 55.96 | 1 | 5.00% | $2,517.75 | $0.14 |
RANK | TRAINER | TOTAL POINTS | WINS | WIN PCT. | EARNINGS/START | $2 ROI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gonzalez Claudio A | 350.98 | 11 | 39.29% | $12,134 | $2.84 |
| 2 | Pecoraro Anthony | 249.28 | 13 | 28.26% | $5,844 | $1.80 |
| 3 | Ashby Lynn A | 243.57 | 10 | 28.57% | $7,499 | $1.69 |
| 4 | Carrasco Jr Victor | 233.00 | 11 | 26.83% | $3,509 | $2.36 |
| 5 | Ness Jamie | 228.21 | 18 | 23.08% | $3,822 | $1.20 |
| 6 | Delacour Arnaud | 225.39 | 7 | 25.00% | $5,846 | $2.36 |
| 7 | Simoff Andrew L | 222.98 | 8 | 33.33% | $4,072 | $1.90 |
| 8 | Capuano Gary | 211.85 | 5 | 20.83% | $7,684 | $2.14 |
| 9 | Bennett Gerald S | 204.36 | 13 | 19.40% | $4,050 | $1.56 |
| 10 | Wasiluk Jr Peter | 198.75 | 5 | 18.52% | $2,892 | $3.16 |
| 11 | Neilson Wallace C | 195.04 | 7 | 22.58% | $2,022 | $2.59 |
| 12 | Torrez Jerenesto | 193.75 | 11 | 28.21% | $3,390 | $1.04 |
| 13 | Gorham Michael E | 192.59 | 8 | 16.33% | $4,332 | $2.24 |
| 14 | Ritchey Timothy F | 189.32 | 6 | 27.27% | $4,590 | $1.54 |
| 15 | Motion H Graham | 185.48 | 6 | 17.14% | $6,638 | $1.70 |
| 16 | Tsirigotis Jr James | 178.34 | 4 | 18.18% | $2,423 | $2.84 |
| 17 | Lake Scott A | 177.33 | 14 | 16.67% | $2,401 | $1.18 |
| 18 | Powell Scott | 166.10 | 5 | 17.24% | $2,627 | $2.30 |
| 19 | Rigattieri John | 150.87 | 5 | 19.23% | $3,775 | $1.36 |
| 20 | Proctor Thomas F | 141.37 | 5 | 15.63% | $5,655 | $0.86 |
| 21 | Cruz Jesus | 136.47 | 5 | 15.63% | $2,987 | $1.40 |
| 22 | Potts Wayne | 134.02 | 10 | 13.51% | $2,582 | $0.72 |
| 23 | Hobson Simon | 128.58 | 4 | 13.79% | $2,040 | $1.72 |
| 24 | McMahon Hugh I | 125.24 | 3 | 13.64% | $2,204 | $1.76 |
| 25 | Cronk Samuel F | 100.68 | 3 | 10.34% | $2,084 | $1.28 |
| 26 | Stauffer Sr Arthur F | 99.57 | 3 | 6.38% | $1,406 | $1.74 |
| 27 | Galvan Baltazar | 85.47 | 4 | 6.67% | $2,082 | $0.92 |
| 28 | Raymond Robert A | 84.79 | 3 | 11.11% | $2,069 | $0.72 |
| 29 | Powell Mark K | 69.94 | 4 | 7.55% | $1,232 | $0.58 |
| 30 | Gaffney Hubert | 66.94 | 2 | 6.06% | $1,446 | $0.90 |
| 31 | Diaz Jorge | 56.67 | 2 | 5.41% | $1,094 | $0.72 |
Kieron Magee, Michael Stidham and Jorge Navarro each won a pair of races on the trainer’s side. None of the three is stabled at Delaware Park, but all three have large outfits and are able to shop around the tracks in the region for races that fit their runners.
Navarro is winning at a 56 percent clip this meeting in limited opportunities — he’s nine-for-16 — and many of his claiming winners are horses dropping down sharply in class. You won’t get rich betting his runners to win with an average mutual payoff of $3.40 but if you’re a gimmick player it’s impossible to leave him out of the play.
While Jamie Ness leads all local trainers with 18 wins, he’s fifth in our alternative rankings (at right), which combine wins, win percentage, earnings per start, and return on $2 wagering investment into a single metric. Claudio Gonzalez towers over his rivals in these rankings with 350.98 points — more than 100 ahead of his nearest rival. Gonzalez leads the colony in win percentage and earnings per start and is second in wagering ROI.
TRACK BIAS REPORT
Power of Snunner won the 2017 Obeah at Delaware Park. Photo by Kathleen O’Leary.
- 08/08 – The surface appeared a little dull and tiring for this mid-week card as stalkers and late closers enjoyed the most success.
- 08/09 – The track was a little quicker and tighter on Thursday with speed rivals and those racing close to the pace winning most of the races.
- 08/11 – Strip still favored front runners and close-up prompters early, and with rain moving in later, the strip became wet and was sealed and listed sloppy for the final main track race.
- 08/13 – Speed rivals had the advantage for Monday’s program as the surface still held a good bit of moisture from heavy overnight rains and was listed “wet fast.” One horse did come from well off the pace but was the heavy favorite of that race.
