September 15 racing highlights: Royal Jewely scores in Winter Melody
War Dancer won the PTHA President’s Cup. Photo By Taylor Ejdys/EQUI-PHOTO
From Staff Reports
YESTERDAY’S NEWS: Royal Jewely scores in Winter Melody
Speed kills, they say, and yesterday at Delaware Park, it was certainly deadly. Four of five two-turn races on the main track went to horses that led at every call.
And one of those victories went to Royal Jewely in the $50,000 Winter Melody Stakes.
Royal Jewely, a four-year-old daughter of City Place ridden by Erick Rodriguez, broke alertly, grabbed the lead along the rail, and never looked back. She carved out a half-mile in 48.04 seconds and three-quarters in 1:12.29, leading by two lengths at each call, before widening to a 5 3/4 length victory in 1:45.65 for 1 1/16 miles.
It was the first stakes win in Royal Jewely’s career; in her prior Delaware Park race, she’d finished fifth in an absolutely stacked renewal of the $100,000 Obeah Handicap in June. The Gerald Bennett trainee, owned by Michael Reynolds and Anthony Piarulli, now has won eight of 20 career starts and earned $166,530.
[su_divider top=”no” style=”double” divider_color=”#0b0c0c” size=”1″]BY THE NUMBERS: Handle
- Delaware Park: $1,374474
- Charles Town: $741,969
TODAY’S ACTION
- Tracks in action: Delaware Park, Penn National, Charles Town
- Delaware Park’s Thursday feature is a pretty rare bird this time of year: a $36,000 allowance race for two-year-old winners. Is Everybody Happy (2-1) won easily over the strip at first asking — as the 2-5 post time favorite — and is favored here. But the Tom Proctor trainee hasn’t raced since May 25, though he is showing eight works since the beginning of August. La Key (3-1), second against similar last out and a decent fourth in the track’s White Clay Creek Stakes, also figures to take wagering action. Brian Pedroza will ride the Baltazar Galvan trainee.
- Two-year-old West Virginia-bred maidens will kick off the evening’s Charles Town card. Ronney Brown trainee Limehouser (2-1), who ran third as the 9-5 favorite in his debut, is the morning line favorite here and will have leading rider Jose Montano up. Jeff Runco debut runner John Barleycorn (7-2), a half-brother to multiple stakes winner Ullapool, is the second favorite here and will have Arnaldo Bocachica up; Bocachica and Runco have scored at a 34 percent clip in the last 60 days.
