Delaware Park 2018 horses to watch: September 20

by | Sep 20, 2018 | Breaking, DE Racing, Delaware, Racing | 1 comment

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

by Frank Vespe

Delaware Park has a nine-race card on Thursday, September 20. Post time for the card is 1:15 p.m. Some horses to watch:

Race 8 – Maiden special weight

  • Fillies and mares three and up will go 7 1/2 furlongs on the turf — and, yes, they are slated to be on the turf.
  • #2 Beach Diva (4-1) presents an interesting handicapping conundrum: on the one hand, the Christohpe Clement trainee’s two starts look pretty good, a third and then a second against Parx maiden allowance foes, both on the grass. On the other hand, her BRIS speed figures are pretty blah: a 67 and a 69. So which is it? We’re inclined to put more weight in this case on the race results than the figs. This $275,000 Malibu Moon filly will make her second start with Lasix here and second off a two-month break. Trevor McCarthy has the mount on a filly who is a half-sister to two graded stakes winners.
  • Curious to see how #4 Gone to Austin (8-1) responds to the surface switch today. The Medaglia d’Oro filly has made all four of her career starts on the dirt, with just middling results. Trainer Tom Albertrani tried to get her on the lawn last out, but the race came off the turf, and she ran a distant third after stumbling. But there’s hope for an improved effort here: her lone  high-quality sibling was Cowboy Cal, a millionaire who won three graded stakes on the green stuff (and two others on synthetic). Daniel Centeno will ride.
  • Selections: 2-4-7-3

 

Race 9 – Allowance/optional claiming

  • Fillies and mares three and up will go six furlongs on the main track in a first-level allowance with an optional claiming tag of $16,000.
  • Here’s a comment line you don’t see every day: “horrific early trip.” But that’s the line on #4 Enterprise Value (9-5). In her last start, at Timonium, this Lacey Gaudet trainee took the worst of it in the early going: sent off at 4-5, she bobbled slightly leaving the gate and was pinched back. She quickly recovered to be with the pack, but then she clipped heels and nearly fell. That caused her rider that day, Johan Rosado, to lose his irons. He never could get them back and ended up just bouncing on the horse’s back and trying to hold on. Rosado returns for this engagement. Distance is the only question mark here: she has done her best work at 5 1/2 furlongs, and she has just one win from 12 tries at the distance. Still, she rates a major shot here.
  • Selections: 5-4-1

 

ARABIAN WATCH

Arabian handicapping is provided by our friends at Arabian Finish Line.

No Arabian race today.