Delaware Park 2019 horses to watch: June 19

by | Jun 19, 2019 | Breaking, DE Racing, Delaware, Racing

by Frank Vespe 

Delaware Park has an eight-race card on tap for Wednesday, including the $50,000 Christiana Stakes. Unfortunately, the wet weather has driven racing off the turf, which has taken a bite out of the feature. Some horses to watch:

Race 7 – Christiana Stakes

  • Three-year-old fillies will go 1 1/16 miles on the main track after the race was taken off the turf.
  • The only stakes winner in the group is #2 Pat’s No Fool (8-1), who won the Maddie May Stakes for New York-breds at Aqueduct in March. She didn’t run badly in her follow-up, finishing third in the Weber City Miss, and then she was fourth in the Light Hearted over the strip. Though she was beaten 19 lengths in the latter race, it’s worth noting that winner Fashion Faux Pas ran away and hid from her competition, winning off by 14. Both her wins came in one-turn mile events, and while she has not run badly going two turns, it remains to be seen whether that will be her optimum trip. 
  • The Chuck Lawrence-trained #3 Zonda (15-1) finished fifth — just behind Pat’s No Fool — in the Light Hearted, but we’re inclined to give her another crack here. That was just the second start of this Scat Daddy filly’s career, following an 11-length debut victory at Laurel. This $155,000 daughter of Scat Daddy is certainly bred to like the turf, for which this event was originally scheduled, but her two dirt races put her in the mix, too.
  • Selections: 3-4-2-1a 

Race 8 – Allowance/optional claiming 

  • Three-year-olds and up will go a mile on the main track in a third-level allowance with an optional claiming tag of $50,000.
  • His first try after arriving from Tampa Bay Downs didn’t go so well, but #2 Halfback (7-2) followed that up with a nice win in which he won a lengthy duel with the 3-5 favorite, Dupree. He can compete here and figures to get a just-off-the-pace trip with a couple of other runners — one, #6 My Boy Lenny (8-1), trained by Gerald Bennett, who also trains this runner — heating it up on the front end. Bennett is 10-for-33 at the meet, so you can’t discount anything he sends out, and this one may sit the right trip here. Angel Suarez will ride.
  • The favorite in here is the lightly raced seven-year-old gelding #5 Siralfredthegreat (9-5). There was nothing wrong with this one’s last outing, in which he ran second versus similar at Parx Racing in what was his first start of the season. The winner Share the Ride, now has four wins from seven career starts and has never been worse than third, and show horse The Man has 10 wins, two in stakes company, from 18 starts. This guy can move forward in his second start of the season. There are two question marks, though: 1) the six-furlong distance, at which he’s just one-for-three and has faded badly in three tries on the page; and 2) the pace scenario. There’s other speed signed on here, notably My Boy Lenny to his outside, which complicates the trip he’ll get. Five-pound bug Julio Correa will ride.
  • Selections: 2-5-1-6

Arabian Watch

Thanks to Stephanie Ruff and Arabian Finish Line for giving us insights to the Arabian racing at Delaware Park.

No Arabian race today.