Delaware Park picks and analysis: August 28, 2024 * The Racing Biz

Delaware Park picks and analysis: August 28, 2024

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

RACE 1

6. Bold Boss	Eye-opening gate work on August 6; two of three siblings finished in the money on debut, and sire Liam’s Map a 12% first-out winner rate; Compton barn enjoying productive meet
1. Brookmesa	Decent tries on better circuits to date; winner of debut, Candied, won G1 next out
2. Night Quest	Daughter of Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist (12% with older debut runners)

RACE 2

7. Divine Exchange	Well drawn outside and could sit a good trip in a race where several are likely to want the front; has competed successfully at this level
3. Flashndynamite	Game effort in latest and owns eight wins at the trip; has plenty of speed but a more measured trip might be in order here
4. Salagadoola	Even effort at this level in last and shifts into Richards barn (20% off the claim)

RACE 3

4. Scudetto	Gelded since debut, in which he had trouble at the start and backed out after mounting a bit of a wide move; Delgado 11-for-28 dropping horses from special weight to maiden claiming company
7. Scott Twentytwo	Couple of zippy gate works in preparation for career bow; trainer Ness wins at an 11% clip with 2yo runners making their debuts in claiming company
3. English Daddy	Training well enough towards career bow for a barn that can win first out

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RACE 4

4. Nay Slayer	The jump up into stakes company may have set this one back in latest; with a bit more time off into this spot, perhaps she returns to form that saw her run second versus these sorts
14. Stella d’Amore	Showed speed on debut versus better; if drawing in could be a major player
6. Lady Raven	Too far off sluggish pace in latest in race that’s produced two next out winners; best efforts contend
8. Coach Caley	Return to debut would win this heat

RACE 5

6. Sunset Town	Drawn just outside of main speed rival and may be ready to get back to better form in second straight sprint; bobbled slightly leaving gate in latest, which didn’t help; has kept right company
5. Inter Miami	Barring a stumble, will be one-two early
3. Geaux Yoshka	Came from the clouds to win latest versus lesser

RACING NOTES

Jockey Jaime Rodriguez has begun to inch away from his competitors in the win standings; he has 47, while his nearest rival, Gabriel Maldonado, has 39. A big reason for that has been his record aboard favorites. Rodriguez has ridden 64 favorites to date — 38% of his mounts during the meet — and won with an astonishing 53% of them (34). He has ridden more favorites than any other rider and has won on a higher percentage than all but a few with five or fewer mounts on favorites. His 34 wins on the chalk are 15 more than any other rider.
While Jamie Ness is cruising to yet another training title — his 33 wins are 15 more than his nearest competitor — Gary Capuano has been the dominant trainer of two-year-olds at the meet. Capuano has won seven times from 17 starts with babies; Michael Stidham is next with three wins.

RACE 6

9. Luca Il Cavallo	Half-brother to multiple graded stakes-winning turfer Proctor’s Ledge gets the lawn for the first time and attracts leading rider JRod
2. Mission Mike	Encountered early and late trip trouble in willing try first time on the lawn; first in hard-hitting Rodriguez barn and first since March
4. Elfuegomasbrilante	Led into final furlong in latest before settling for third and has consistently run well in these types of spots; retains solid turf rider Ruiz
12. Blind Eye	Gonna be a handful if drawing in; finished full of run in latest but just too late; has run well in recent tries versus similar

RACE 7

6. Spikezone	Likely speed of the speed galloped in latest versus similar and loves this 6f distance (7-for-13); six-for-nine on the year
1. Freedom Road	Arrives on four-race win streak; has been 3-5 or less in three straight, a streak that ends here; likely to be on the chase early today but has shown ability to stalk as well as lead
2. Stage Left	Veteran makes first start since March for a barn that hits at 19% off similar breaks; drop out of stakes company the right move off the bench and connex protect him here

RACE 8

1. Mineola Mike	First start in Pecoraro barn and second off the bench; has back efforts that win
4. Samyaza	Willing try in latest despite stretch run that saw him coming wide for room and then shifting back down inside of rivals
5. Secretary At War	Loomed a threat in latest but could not get by