Delaware Park picks and analysis: July 25, 2024 * The Racing Biz

Delaware Park picks and analysis: July 25, 2024

Picks and analysis for this afternoon’s card from Delaware Park:

RACE 1

4. Lead Off	Hasn’t missed by much in last two versus similar with excuses in both; show horse from latest won follow-up
2. Mineola Mike	Speedy sort cruised in most recent at Penn; has been away a couple months
5. Baton	Will be a strong favorite in here and has better races to run back to; Ness and Pino taking turns claiming this one back; last was not good

RACE 2

3. Baltasar	Speedy sort might control it up front in this spot; ran into a buzzsaw in latest in $600k earner Borracho, now a winner of four straight
5. Abuelo Paps	Has run two of his best races in years since Magee claim four back
4. Kenny Had a Notion	Plenty of back class and shifts into hard-hitting Ness barn, but the drop in price doesn’t feel like a vote of confidence

RACE 3 – ON THE TURF

4. Mischiefness	Well outfooted early in first try versus winners but finished strongly and galloped out with the winner
2. Turbo Millie	Even effort in a race that’s produced two next-out winners in first local turf try
1. Mya C	Has excuses in last couple and gets leading rider Maldonado up

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RACE 4

7. Polterer	Has been thriving versus similar and well drawn outside, where he can use his speed to best advantage; jock-trainer combo 4-for-8
2. Truculent	Three straight good races to close Oaklawn meet; figures to be a few lengths off it early
4. Conspiracy Fact	Game effort in latest but denied by top choice

RACE 5 – ON THE TURF

3. We Live This Game	Didn’t run badly in debut on turf, and show horse from that race is now Grade 1-placed; useful return to action when second on main track at Monmouth and can improve second off the bench
7. Roundtop	Keeps finding tough customers in front of him, including stakes winner Fulmineo, Grade 3 winner Neat; can move forward in second of the season
2. Juan Valdez	Return to winter form would make him a handful
8. Robaire	Well-bred sort is a half to two graded winners; debut told us pretty much nothing, now shows up in a new barn, blinkers on, and easier spot; your guess?

RACING NOTES

Wednesday’s two turf races were taken off the turf and moved to the dirt, horsemen being informed of it at 12:57 via text message. That ended up being good news for Notmyfirstrodeo, who broke his maiden at 16-1 under Jaime Rodriguez for trainer Tim Salzman, and Malibu Beauty, a main-track only entrant in the $50,000 Del-certified event, who won by four as the second choice for Rodriguez and Gary Capuano.
Rodriguez and Carol Cedeno each won two races.
One of Cedeno’s two wins came on the very well-bred firster Golden Cookie, who failed to switch leads in the stretch but had just enough to hold off favored Sacred Thunder to win by a nose. Trained by Michael Stidham, the Godolphin homebred is by Violence out of a Tapit mare and is a half to the stakes winner Pennybaker.

RACE 6

6. Extremely Gruntled	Near-miss versus Popover Gal (now 2-for-2) two back and easy win in last say this one’s in form now; three closest finishers from last won follow-ups
3. Blaze On	Hasn’t done a thing wrong yet, while racing against lesser; scratched out of 7/24 race for this spot and has right to improve
1. Devil Pays in Gold	Last couple aren’t quite as good as earlier efforts; winner of last, Freeze the Fire, has won three straight

RACE 7 – ON THE TURF

7. Afterneath	Turf form’s not bad and cutback to 5f probably a plus for a horse that’s often ceded ground in the last furlong
5. Shared Authority	Front-running score to graduate in last and trainer Sanchez-Salomon is 14% with last-out maiden winners
9. Surprisingly Sweet	Won’t likely be as forwardly placed sprinting as she’s been around two turns, but lone prior sprint try on the lawn was solid; could get lively pace to chase

RACE 8

2. Ray’s Gone Astray	First off the bench since January; should appreciate cutback in distance as best earlier tries were at shortest distances; likely to be among early pace horses
4. Morales Little Kid	Makes third start off the bench and return to main track; earlier dirt tries weren’t bad versus better
5. Storm Cat Eyes	Fits with these

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