Delaware Park horses to watch: July 13

by | Jul 13, 2017 | Breaking, DE Racing, Delaware, Racing

Off at Delaware Park. Photo © www.HoofprintsInc.com.

by Frank Vespe

It’s the final pre-DelCap card at Delaware Park today, and eight Thoroughbred races and one Arabian event are on tap. First post is 1:15 p.m. Some horses to watch:

  • It wouldn’t be a surprise to see General Patton (9-2) end up the favorite in the third race, a maiden special weight turf route. The Christophe Clement trainee gave a good accounting of himself in his debut, chasing a loose-on-the-lead favorite all the way to the wire, ending up second by a length-and-a-half after finishing up the last five-sixteenths in under 30 seconds. Nik Juarez will ride. Among the firsters, we’re curious about Jonathan Sheppard trainee Junonia (12-1), a City Zip colt whose half-brother Star Contender is a stake-winning earner of nearly $500,000.
  • The fifth is an allowance test on the grass that includes one of The Racing Biz correspondent Doug McCoy’s horses to watch, Pop By. The daughter of City Zip began her career in France, where she won twice, and will make her third start in North America this afternoon. “It wouldn’t be a surprise to see her progress nicely in the future,” McCoy wrote after her third-place finish June 26.
  • Will it be bombs away in the seventh? Could be – it’s an allowance test going 1 1/2 miles on the turf, and the only two runners here with a win at the trip are longshots Diana’s Vendetta (12-1) and Cape Cod Tide (20-1), the latter of which, a son of the champion turfer Cape Blanco, certainly is bred for this type of thing. And then there’s Western Exchange (4-1); trainer Edward Graham brings this guy off a two-year layoff — and having raced over jumps for his last four starts — to run in this one. Wouldn’t bet on him, but sure am curious to see how he runs.