Delaware Park Racing Notebook 2018: Vol. 6
Red Ruby won the G3 Delaware Oaks. Photo by Allison Janezic.
by Doug McCoy
Every week during the Delaware Park racing season, The Racing Biz will publish The Delaware Park Racing Notebook. This page is designed to give helpful information to both horseplayers and horsemen about the racing picture at Delaware Park from the past week.
In the notebook, you’ll find:
- “Horses to watch” section highlighting both horses who have shown promise those who may have had poor “trips” in their last starts.
- “Clocker’s Corner” where track clockers will point out horses who have worked in noteworthy fashion during the past week.
- Track tendencies or biases during the week’s races. While it would be great if every race track was completely fair and even and an equal number of speed horses, stalkers, and closers won each day, observant handicappers know this just isn’t the case. Every track’s tendencies and biases (favored styles) change and vary, often from one racing program to the next due to any number of factors, most notably weather. While these changes are often minor, there are also days where a certain type of horse (like a speed horse) has a decided advantage, and there also days where one portion of the racing strip is a better spot to race over (like the inside) than another.
- Leading trainers and jocks and who’s been hot during the last week.
HORSES TO WATCH
- BULLAND – First time starter was green and inexperienced but still made a strong move to the lead into mid-stretch of his debut before being run down late. Should be hard to handle next out if brought back with same $16,000-14,000 level maiden claimers.
- ICY LADY – Michael Gorham first-time starter swept past leaders down the stretch to win her debut, and while the final time of the five and a half furlong sprint (1:07.67) wasn’t impressive she still looked very professional and should also appreciate more distance.
- CLASSY NEKIA – First-time starter hopped at the start of her debut to be last through early portions but finished stoutly down the lane and should be tough next out with $16,000-14,000 class maiden claimers on the turf.
- HALFBACK – Finished a very respectable second to a heavily favored Jorge Navarro ship-in last start and looks like he likes the Delaware Park surface. If he catches a field with some speed in it he should be right in the thick of things next start.
CLOCKERS’ CORNER
- TRICKIZAR – Baltazar Galvan colt who has shown talent right from the start of his career zipped through a half in :48.00 flat on 07/07, the best work of 29 at that distance and looks to be coming up to his next start in sharp fashion
- BLOODY POINT – This Arnaud Delacour charge hasn’t run since last October but indicated he’s not far from a return to action with a quick five furlong move of 1:00.20 on 07/08.
JOCKEYS AND TRAINERS
Jockey Angel Suarez has turned out to be one of the surprises of the new meet and topped all riders last week with five wins from 18 starts. He also finished second with four mounts, so half the horses he rode finished one-two, a gimmick player’s delight. Jomar Omega booted home four winners from seven mounts while Johan Rosado, Carol Cedeno, and veteran Mario Pino all had three wins.
Suarez’ big week moved him solidly into second in the overall standings with 18 victories, seven behind leader Cedeno. Keiber Coa is currently third with Rosado, who continues to impress, ranks fourth with 12 wins and leads all apprentices.
In our alternative rankings (at right), which combine wins, win percentage, earnings per start, and $2 wagering return on investment into a single stat, Rosado has a slight edge on the other riders and scores especially well in win percentage (27.3 percent) and $2 wagering ROI ($2.56). But it’s crowded at the top, with veteran Mario Pino (meet-best earnings per start of $7,813), Brian Pedroza (meet-best win percentage of 31 percent), and Daniel Centeno all close behind.
RANK | JOCKEY | TOTAL POINTS | WINS | WIN PCT. | EARNINGS/START | $2 ROI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rosado Johan | 279.93 | 12 | 27.27% | $4,061.48 | $2.56 |
| 2 | Pino Mario G | 277.22 | 8 | 21.62% | $7,813.51 | $2.10 |
| 3 | Pedroza Brian | 275.11 | 5 | 31.25% | $5,104.06 | $2.48 |
| 4 | Centeno Daniel | 271.10 | 11 | 27.50% | $6,342.25 | $1.60 |
| 5 | Cedeno Carol | 262.05 | 25 | 19.53% | $3,569.02 | $1.49 |
| 6 | Lynch Feargal | 244.48 | 5 | 23.81% | $7,739.62 | $1.36 |
| 7 | Marin Augusto A | 232.03 | 7 | 18.92% | $3,398.38 | $2.76 |
| 8 | Torres Jomar | 224.93 | 6 | 24.00% | $5,342.60 | $1.54 |
| 9 | Ortega Jomar | 211.83 | 6 | 22.22% | $2,205.19 | $2.44 |
| 10 | Coa Keiber J | 208.44 | 14 | 15.56% | $2,703.33 | $1.88 |
| 11 | Toledo Jevian | 204.98 | 2 | 14.29% | $5,256.79 | $2.32 |
| 12 | Suarez Angel | 199.80 | 18 | 16.82% | $2,511.49 | $1.16 |
| 13 | Ruiz Jorge | 195.91 | 2 | 18.18% | $3,234.09 | $2.44 |
| 14 | Cintron Alex | 193.04 | 9 | 15.52% | $4,939.57 | $1.22 |
| 15 | Swan Kirsten | 179.28 | 3 | 25.00% | $3,199.17 | $1.28 |
| 16 | Vargas Jr Jorge A | 174.59 | 3 | 11.54% | $5,010.00 | $1.70 |
| 17 | Panell Dyn | 172.39 | 3 | 13.64% | $2,502.95 | $2.34 |
| 18 | Uske Shannon | 159.77 | 4 | 12.12% | $2,205.45 | $2.12 |
| 19 | Mccarthy Trevor | 134.64 | 4 | 9.30% | $4,341.98 | $0.92 |
| 20 | Hamilton Weston | 114.34 | 1 | 6.25% | $3,154.94 | $1.38 |
| 21 | Garcia Jose Angel | 107.31 | 5 | 9.09% | $1,668.49 | $1.02 |
| 22 | Quiles Antonio | 101.94 | 4 | 10.81% | $1,610.05 | $0.85 |
| 23 | Betancourt Jose R | 98.48 | 5 | 9.09% | $1,323.04 | $0.90 |
| 24 | Rodriguez Pablo | 92.37 | 4 | 9.76% | $2,057.07 | $0.52 |
| 25 | Russell Sheldon | 82.85 | 1 | 7.69% | $3,276.15 | $0.34 |
| 26 | Paz Robert | 76.67 | 2 | 6.90% | $1,300.52 | $0.83 |
| 27 | Powell Ryan | 74.78 | 1 | 6.25% | $1,633.88 | $0.83 |
| 28 | Rose Jeremy | 62.58 | 1 | 5.26% | $2,865.26 | $0.14 |
| 29 | Lara Ezequiel | 54.18 | 2 | 4.55% | $1,391.93 | $0.38 |
RANK | TRAINER | TOTAL POINTS | WINS | WIN PCT. | EARNINGS/START | $2 ROI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gonzalez Claudio A | 347.41 | 8 | 50.00% | $9,898 | $3.02 |
| 2 | Ashby Lynn A | 275.86 | 7 | 31.82% | $9,574 | $2.04 |
| 3 | Motion H Graham | 274.35 | 6 | 28.57% | $9,330 | $2.82 |
| 4 | Pecoraro Anthony | 271.92 | 8 | 34.78% | $6,499 | $2.54 |
| 5 | Capuano Gary | 244.19 | 4 | 25.00% | $8,678 | $2.98 |
| 6 | Simoff Andrew L | 243.84 | 5 | 45.45% | $4,841 | $2.42 |
| 7 | Tsirigotis Jr James | 228.66 | 4 | 28.57% | $3,119 | $4.48 |
| 8 | Jacobson David | 223.92 | 5 | 41.67% | $4,768 | $1.90 |
| 9 | Neilson Wallace C | 214.28 | 6 | 33.33% | $2,508 | $2.79 |
| 10 | Ness Jamie | 213.19 | 10 | 23.81% | $3,618 | $1.30 |
| 11 | Carrasco Jr Victor | 203.13 | 6 | 26.09% | $3,391 | $2.54 |
| 12 | Lake Scott A | 193.52 | 9 | 21.43% | $2,514 | $1.58 |
| 13 | Gorham Michael E | 192.79 | 5 | 16.67% | $4,294 | $2.96 |
| 14 | McMahon Hugh I | 156.40 | 2 | 18.18% | $2,699 | $3.26 |
| 15 | Delacour Arnaud | 155.20 | 3 | 17.65% | $5,408 | $1.58 |
| 16 | Powell Scott | 147.52 | 2 | 18.18% | $2,174 | $3.10 |
| 17 | Torrez Jerenesto | 147.29 | 5 | 23.81% | $2,884 | $0.92 |
| 18 | Bennett Gerald S | 145.19 | 6 | 15.38% | $3,530 | $0.84 |
| 19 | Proctor Thomas F | 131.90 | 3 | 13.64% | $5,663 | $0.78 |
| 20 | Potts Wayne | 125.68 | 6 | 12.77% | $2,471 | $0.68 |
| 21 | Wasiluk Jr Peter | 125.43 | 2 | 13.33% | $2,626 | $2.34 |
| 22 | Cronk Samuel F | 125.22 | 2 | 14.29% | $2,682 | $2.22 |
| 23 | Galvan Baltazar | 119.56 | 4 | 10.81% | $2,420 | $1.50 |
| 24 | Hobson Simon | 105.13 | 3 | 14.29% | $2,001 | $1.18 |
| 25 | Powell Mark K | 78.09 | 3 | 8.82% | $1,378 | $0.74 |
| 26 | Cruz Jesus | 57.03 | 1 | 5.88% | $2,386 | $0.50 |
| 27 | Epley Jr Steve | 55.58 | 1 | 6.67% | $2,573 | $0.28 |
| 28 | Gaffney Hubert | 45.54 | 1 | 6.67% | $1,270 | $0.42 |
| 29 | Diaz Jorge | 38.85 | 1 | 4.55% | $939 | $0.46 |
| 30 | Danyluk Ken | 33.65 | 1 | 3.33% | $798 | $0.40 |
On the trainer’s side of the slate, six conditioners each had two wins last week. Andrew Simoff, Anthony Pecoraro, Jamie Ness, Scott Powell, Gary Capuano and Lacey Gaudet each had a pair of wins. Gaudet had a perfect two-for-two record while Ness’ pair of wins moved him into the top spot in the overall stands with 10 victories. Scott Lake is second with nine wins while Pecoraro and Claudio Gonzalez each have sent out eight winners. Gonzalez is winning at a gaudy 50 percent, clip while Pecoraro is sending out winners at a 35 percent rate.
Gonzalez has surged to the overall lead in our alternative standings (right), which combine wins, win percentage, earnings per start, and $2 wagering return on investment into a single stat. He leads the colony in win percentage and earnings per start, and he has a $2 ROI of $3.02. Lynn Ashby, whose wins are split between Thoroughbreds and Arabians and who scored with Tricky Escape in the Grade 3 Robert G. Dick Memorial on Saturday, is in second, just ahead of Graham Motion and Anthony Pecoraro. Gary Capuano rounds out the top five.
TRACK BIAS REPORT
Power of Snunner won the 2017 Obeah at Delaware Park. Photo by Kathleen O’Leary.
- 07/04 – The main track played basically fair with the rail continuing to be a bit dull. Most horses raced the best from the three path on out.
- 07/05 – Thursday the surface came up a little tiring and dull with stalkers and closers enjoying the most success. Two horses came from last in their fields to win, something that doesn’t happen often over this surface.
- 07/07 – The track looked a bit tighter with runners racing on or close to the lead having the best success. The middle of the track on out continued to be the favored portions to race over, and the Delaware Oaks winner was well off the rail most of the trip.
- 07/09 – It was a tale of two tracks Monday with speed types doing well in sprints while stalkers and stretch runners had good success in two turn main track routes.
