Delaware Park picks and horses to watch: July 29

Photo by HoofprintsInc.com.

We’ve got Delaware Park picks and horses to watch for Wednesday, July 29. The card features eight races.

Race 5 — Starter allowance

• Three-year-olds and up that have started for a claiming tag of $25,000 or less and have never won four races or have never won one race other than maiden or claiming will go 6 furlongs on the main track.
• Let’s give one more crack to #7 Tommy Shelby (2-1). The Henry Walters-trained son of Super Ninety Nine is a three-time winner who qualifies for the condition by dint of that fact. Last year as a two-year-old, he won an allowance race and also placed in two stakes. His return to action, June 24 at Delaware Park, was nothing to write home about, but that was a rugged group; he went off at 19-1, and the top trio all won their follow-ups. Facing a more manageable group here, he can improve.

Race 6 — Allowance/optional claiming

• Three-year-olds and up will go 1 mile 70 yards on the main track in a third-level allowance with an optional claiming tag of $50,000.
• This is a really good race, and you could make a case for just about any of these. The favorite in here is onetime Preakness runner #5 Senior Investment (9-5), and he’s certainly one we are curious about. The Scott Lake trainee was in terrific form earlier this year, ripping off three straight wins, including a five-length score in the Harrion Johnson, helping to push his career earnings past $700,000. But his last two starts, in June and again in July, were both awful, both coming against Grade 3 company. So the handicapper’s conundrum: was he just in too deep (he was 23-1 and 11-1 in the two races), has he gone off form, or some combination thereof. Your answer to the question determines whether you play or pass with this one.
• No trainer at Delaware Park has been hotter than Tim Ritchey. He’s sent out only five starters, and four of them have won, including a couple at long odds. One of those is #6 Aspect (8-1), who prevailed at 18-1 two back and has won two straight and five of his last nine overall. His speed figs seem a bit light for this group, but this four-year-old Astrology colt is clearly a horse moving in the right direction, and out of that two back win, the top three won their follow-ups. We’ll have this guy on the ticket.

WAGERS

• Race 5, 50-cent Pick 3: 2, 3, 4, 7 w/ 5, 6 w/ 1, 3, 8 ($12.00)
• Good luck!

LATEST IN HANDICAPPING