Delaware Park 2019 horses to watch: July 29

Photo by HoofprintsInc.com.

Delaware Park has an eight-race card lined up today. Some horses to watch:

Race 3 – Maiden special weight

• Two-year-old maiden fillies will go 7 1/2 furlongs on the turf.
• Here’s a stat that jumps out at you: trainer Anthony Pecoraro has a 40% strike rate (and 68% in the money) when sending out a runner receiving Lasix for the first time. And that’s from a 47-race sample, so there’s some meat on those bones. That’s what he’s doing with #1 Duniverse (part of entry, 8-1) this afternoon. This one was fractious before his debut, showed early speed, and then faded in a five-furlong sprint on the main track. Will she like the turf? That’s an open question; neither sire nor dam was known for turf acumen, and none of her sibs has won on the green. What is likely, however, is that she will appreciate the added ground. Her sire, Sky Kingdom, recorded his two most important victories in the G3 Tokyo City, a 1 1/2-mile dirt race. Jockey Jeremy Rose, who was riding well, will make his first start since June 20.
• Trainer Michael Stidham had two horses entered, the super-well-bred Embossed, whom he scratched, and #4 Pleasant Mo (4-1). This daughter of Uncle Mo will make her debut here, and Stidham has a 20% win rate with runners debuting on turf. She’s out of the winning Distorted Humor mare How Pleasant, so the bloodlines certainly are there, and she’s been working steadily for the last two months at Monmouth Park. Alex Cintron will ride.
• Selections: 4-1-1A-6

Race 8 – Allowance

• 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.
• The Marya Montoya-trained #4 Senior Investment (8-1) cuts an unusual profile. Formerly trained by Kenny McPeek, the Discreetly Mine five-year-old has racked up over $500,000 in career earnings, including a win in the 2017 G3 Lexington Stakes and a third-place finish in that year’s Preakness. His first two starts this year came in Dubai, and he had about five months off before returning last time out at Parx to be fourth in a useful return to action. And for good measure, he’ll have jockey Julian Pimentel up; Pimentel has not ridden for Montoya in at least the last two months and has no other mounts on the card. Make of that what you will.
• Several others of these are also intriguing, including multiple graded winner #2 Something Awesome (2-1), a milllionaire looking to get back on track and earn his first win since the 2018 Charles Town Classic; and the Delaware-loving #5 Warrioroftheroses (4-1). The Damon Dilodovico trainee, still going strong at 10, is 5-for-12 at Delaware and 3-for-8 at this distance and will have Carol Cedeno up.
• Selections: 5-4-7-1

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. 

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