Wilmington, Del., July 11, 2020 — Morsches Stable’s Gentle Ruler notched a repeat victory in the $125,000 Robert G. Dick Memorial at Delaware Park today. Originally, the race was scheduled to be run at a mile and three-eighths on the turf, but due to the soaking rains in the area yesterday, the race was transferred to the main track and run at the distance of a mile and a quarter.
Making only her second career start on the dirt, the daughter of Colonel John posted a 4-length triumph and returned $2.40 as the favorite in the field of five. Tightly Twisted, with Jhonatan Mendoza, finished second. It was another 11-lengths farther back to Saffron Spirit, with Ricardo Chiappe, in third. Gentle Ruler covered the mile and a quarter over a fast main track in 2:06.51. The Kentucky-bred trained by Ian Wilkes raised her career record to eight wins from 21 starts with earnings of $862,269. Last year, she won the Robert G. Dick Memorial as part of a six win campaign.
Winning jockey Chris Landeros was impressed with her professionalism in getting the job done on the dirt today.
“I really did not know what to expect because of the dirt,” said winning jockey Chris Landeros. “She was drawing along nicely and I just tried to stay out of her way. There was a big gap on the inside at the 3/8ths and I just glided her right through. She was just so game. I just had to hang on and point her in the right direction. But I am really proud of her today because the dirt is not her surface, but sometimes we have to go to plan “B”. And she handled everything beautifully. She is just a lot of class and a lot of fun. I am just happy to be a part of her team.”
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