Delaware Park 2018 horses to watch: August 15

by | Aug 15, 2018 | Breaking, DE Racing, Delaware, Racing

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

by Frank Vespe

Delaware Park has a nine-race card scheduled for Wednesday, August 15, with the finale for Arabians. Post time for the card is 1:15 p.m., and here are some horses to watch:

Race 3 – Maiden claiming

  • Two-year-old fillies were scheduled to go 5 furlongs on the turf at the $25,000 claiming level, but the races today have been switched over to the main track.
  • It’d be tough to have a much better meet than the one Andrew Simoff is having. The trainer has won with eight of 24 starters at Delaware — a 33 percent strike rate — and an additional nine of his runners have finished in the money. He’s also five-for-11 with first-time starters in recent years. He’ll send out #5 Big Mama Drama (6-1) in this contest. The Big Drama filly is out of the winning Bernstein mare Bay Point Countess and is a sib to two other winners. She’s showing just three modest works in preparation for this race, though, and Simoff has entered her for the bottom claiming price in this race, $20,000. Jose Garcia will ride.
  • Selections: 2-5-8-1

 

Race 7 – Maiden special weight

  • Three-year-olds and up were scheduled to go 7 1/2 furlongs on the turf but will instead go one mile on the main track.
  • Assuming he stays in, #4 Promontory (9-2) certainly cuts an interesting profile. The son of Giant’s Causeway has made three starts to date, and while they haven’t been terrible, he hasn’t made much impact on his races. But here’s the thing: he’s out of the ultra-productive Cryptoclearance mare Ava Knowsthecode, which makes him a sibling to no fewer than six stakes winners, including graded stakes stars like the millionaire Justin Phillip, the speedy Keyed Entry, and of more recent vintage, Greenpoint Crusader. All three of those did their best work on the main track, which Promontory has yet to try. He’ll make his second start of ’18 here and is showing a work since his last. Top trainer Arnaud Delacour gives the mount to one of his go-to riders, Daniel Centeno.
  • Selections: 4-1a-7-1

 

 

ARABIAN WATCH

Arabian handicapping is provided by our friends at Arabian Finish Line.

Today’s Arabian race is an evenly matched field of claiming horses going 6 furlongs. The probable favorite will be the entry of Lil Dude AA and Big Cork from Mark Powell. Simon Hobson’s duo RB Hocus Pocus and Captain Bush is another entry that warrants consideration. Though taking on the boys this time, Risky Red has finished in the top three in 6 of 8 starts, and should figure prominently. Finally, you can never overlook Keibar Coa, and today he is riding Chndakasexpress who was third in his last start.