Delaware Park Racing Notebook 2018: Vol. 19
Elate won the G2 Delaware Handicap. 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
- MIND THE GAP – This one broke slowly, then had to weed his way through traffic through the second turn, and finally was in tight briefly inside in the stretch. A better break should make this one more competitive next out.
- SCREEN IMAGE – Squatted down and lost action behind briefly at the start of a recent turf route and then came extremely wide with a middle move through the second turn and into the stretch.
- TAPIT TOGETHER – This one was listed earlier in the meeting in the Horses to Watch section and returns today after running up horses’ heels and being forced to check up in the second turn in a route race October 4. She tried to make a run at the leaders, but her earlier troubles cost her momentum and she wound up third. This regally bred Augustin runner will win soon with a clean trip.
- MORE THAN TEDDY – Made a middle move against a slow pace and loomed a threat before hanging in deep stretch. Should be tough if in a race with some speed to produce an honest pace next start.
CLOCKERS’ CORNER
- BIRD OF TREY – Worked a quick five furlongs in 1:00 for trainer Carlos Milian on 10/01, tying for best of seven horses working that distance. Looking ready to improve on third place finish at Parx last time out.
- FASHION FAUX PAS – Unraced 2-year-old filly by Flatter turned in a solid five-furlong move of 1:01.80 on October 2, fastest of seven at the distance, and bounced back with another bullet October 9, going a half in 47 4/5.
- VEIL DANCE – This Scott Lake trainee finished sixth in her last start at Delaware Park, but improvement should be expected next out if her :48.60 half mile move on October 7, best of 28 horses working that distance, is any indication.
JOCKEYS AND TRAINERS
It was a competitive week in the riders’ ranks for the period between October 3–9. as five different jockeys won four races. That list included Carol Cedeno, Angel Suarez, Keiber Coa and Jose Angel Garcia
Most notable among the quintet was Augusto Marin. Marin is having his best Delaware meeting to date this season, with 29 winners and last week the four horses he rode to victory averaged a whopping $38.50 mutuel payoff. Known as one of the hardest working riders in the morning, Marin’s success has been boosted by riding the bulk of veteran horseman Michael Gorham’s string.
Jeremy Rose hasn’t been riding a lot of horses this meeting but when he has he’s been competitive. Last week Rose only accepted four mounts, but he won with two of those horses while finishing second on another.
With the turf course closed for the meet, the meet leader by wins was Angel Suarez, who scored with 13 of 72 mounts on the grass. Two riders who had notable turf success with fewer opportunities were Daniel Centeno (nine-for-40) and Feargal Lynch (eight-for-30).
Cedeno maintains a clear lead in our jockey rankings (at right), well ahead of Lynch and Centeno. Marin and Suarez round out the top five.
RANK | JOCKEY | TOTAL POINTS | WINS | WIN PCT. | EARNINGS/START | $2 ROI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cedeno Carol | 306.84 | 92 | 24.47% | $4,095.97 | $1.59 |
| 2 | Lynch Feargal | 268.67 | 12 | 24.49% | $7,562.39 | $1.68 |
| 3 | Centeno Daniel | 261.09 | 25 | 23.81% | $5,879.95 | $1.78 |
| 4 | Marin Augusto A | 252.84 | 26 | 19.85% | $3,292.14 | $3.02 |
| 5 | Suarez Angel | 245.46 | 66 | 19.08% | $3,321.92 | $1.57 |
| 6 | Rosado Johan | 229.34 | 18 | 20.93% | $4,242.67 | $2.06 |
| 7 | Torres Jomar | 221.08 | 13 | 20.00% | $6,019.03 | $1.38 |
| 8 | Hamilton Weston | 213.33 | 12 | 19.05% | $5,308.00 | $1.58 |
| 9 | Pedroza Brian | 211.03 | 15 | 21.74% | $4,657.61 | $1.34 |
| 10 | Toledo Jevian | 207.21 | 7 | 17.07% | $4,663.78 | $2.06 |
| 11 | Cintron Alex | 189.83 | 19 | 14.73% | $4,790.36 | $1.38 |
| 12 | Pino Mario G | 188.07 | 15 | 14.56% | $4,586.12 | $1.56 |
| 13 | Rose Jeremy | 183.34 | 9 | 14.52% | $4,185.60 | $1.78 |
| 14 | Gutierrez Reylu | 173.24 | 7 | 20.59% | $3,213.38 | $1.18 |
| 15 | Coa Keiber J | 172.91 | 38 | 12.71% | $2,589.83 | $1.37 |
| 16 | Vargas Jr Jorge A | 172.53 | 10 | 14.49% | $4,595.10 | $1.26 |
| 17 | Garcia Jose Angel | 170.88 | 29 | 13.12% | $2,706.25 | $1.51 |
| 18 | Mccarthy Trevor | 169.09 | 23 | 15.44% | $3,775.84 | $0.94 |
| 19 | Panell Dyn | 147.11 | 8 | 12.50% | $2,450.47 | $1.66 |
| 20 | Ortega Jomar | 143.43 | 14 | 13.46% | $1,844.18 | $1.48 |
| 21 | Montanez Rosario | 135.74 | 4 | 12.90% | $2,646.29 | $1.32 |
| 22 | Acosta J D | 133.99 | 4 | 11.43% | $3,320.29 | $1.18 |
| 23 | Uske Shannon | 119.16 | 13 | 10.08% | $1,625.89 | $1.28 |
| 24 | Paz Robert | 109.37 | 6 | 7.69% | $1,271.03 | $1.65 |
| 25 | Betancourt Jose R | 108.19 | 10 | 7.19% | $1,318.00 | $1.53 |
| 26 | Quiles Antonio | 96.52 | 10 | 10.00% | $1,862.39 | $0.61 |
| 27 | Powell Ryan | 88.31 | 4 | 6.78% | $1,510.20 | $1.10 |
| 28 | Rodriguez Pablo | 81.07 | 10 | 7.52% | $1,534.96 | $0.58 |
| 29 | Lara Ezequiel | 75.51 | 3 | 5.00% | $1,365.75 | $1.02 |
| 30 | Halliday Vince | 51.85 | 1 | 1.96% | $779.31 | $0.98 |
RANK | TRAINER | TOTAL POINTS | WINS | WIN PCT. | EARNINGS/START | $2 ROI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ness Jamie | 247.94 | 36 | 24.83% | $4,420 | $1.32 |
| 2 | Lake Scott A | 150.15 | 19 | 15.45% | $2,335 | $1.14 |
| 3 | Bennett Gerald S | 182.07 | 20 | 16.81% | $3,243 | $1.66 |
| 4 | Potts Wayne | 131.56 | 14 | 13.08% | $2,649 | $1.06 |
| 5 | Gorham Michael E | 211.86 | 19 | 20.88% | $3,983 | $2.14 |
| 6 | Galvan Baltazar | 111.05 | 8 | 9.30% | $2,273 | $1.36 |
| 7 | Torrez Jerenesto | 225.68 | 24 | 30.00% | $4,010 | $1.42 |
| 8 | Stauffer Sr Arthur F | 86.82 | 5 | 6.49% | $1,312 | $1.40 |
| 9 | Pecoraro Anthony | 261.64 | 23 | 30.26% | $5,769 | $2.04 |
| 10 | Cruz Jesus | 98.21 | 7 | 10.45% | $2,572 | $0.84 |
| 11 | Powell Mark K | 66.17 | 5 | 7.69% | $1,193 | $0.68 |
| 12 | Hobson Simon | 91.06 | 6 | 9.38% | $1,666 | $1.10 |
| 13 | Neilson Wallace C | 103.00 | 7 | 11.48% | $1,430 | $1.32 |
| 14 | Gaffney Hubert | 54.33 | 3 | 5.00% | $1,319 | $0.64 |
| 15 | Carrasco Jr Victor | 168.25 | 12 | 20.69% | $2,880 | $1.76 |
| 16 | Simoff Andrew L | 141.89 | 11 | 19.30% | $3,230 | $0.98 |
| 17 | Diaz Jorge | 148.76 | 5 | 8.77% | $1,285 | $3.24 |
| 18 | Ashby Lynn A | 255.41 | 18 | 32.73% | $6,811 | $1.73 |
| 19 | Motion H Graham | 181.69 | 10 | 18.52% | $6,130 | $1.40 |
| 20 | Wasiluk Jr Peter | 140.10 | 7 | 14.29% | $2,347 | $1.98 |
| 21 | Raymond Robert A | 130.17 | 6 | 12.24% | $2,079 | $2.00 |
| 22 | Capuano Gary | 220.46 | 11 | 22.92% | $7,114 | $1.88 |
| 23 | Gonzalez Claudio A | 294.14 | 16 | 34.04% | $9,211 | $2.22 |
| 24 | McMahon Hugh I | 170.35 | 8 | 17.78% | $3,542 | $2.18 |
| 25 | Cronk Samuel F | 112.85 | 5 | 11.11% | $2,183 | $1.58 |
| 26 | Rigattieri John | 130.99 | 7 | 15.91% | $3,255 | $1.24 |
| 27 | Delacour Arnaud | 276.33 | 14 | 31.82% | $7,490 | $2.60 |
| 28 | Proctor Thomas F | 167.72 | 8 | 19.05% | $5,920 | $1.16 |
| 29 | Capuano Dale | 240.10 | 10 | 25.64% | $7,330 | $2.32 |
| 30 | Powell Scott | 183.11 | 8 | 21.05% | $2,633 | $2.66 |
| 31 | Magee Kieron | 175.64 | 10 | 26.32% | $4,371 | $1.22 |
| 32 | Epley Jr Steve | 100.89 | 4 | 10.53% | $2,944 | $1.06 |
| 33 | Ritchey Timothy F | 142.88 | 7 | 18.92% | $4,258 | $1.04 |
| 34 | Rodriguez Jose S | 131.17 | 5 | 14.29% | $2,263 | $1.90 |
| 35 | Sienkewicz William M | 68.81 | 3 | 9.68% | $1,796 | $0.58 |
| 36 | Rubley Kelly | 141.38 | 5 | 16.13% | $4,334 | $1.36 |
| 37 | Navarro Jorge | 247.18 | 13 | 41.94% | $6,250 | $1.40 |
| 38 | Stidham Michael | 169.64 | 6 | 20.00% | $5,206 | $1.58 |
Five trainers won a pair of races last week, with three of them — Lynn Ashby, Tom Proctor, and Jerenesto Torrez — going two-for-two. Other two-time winners were Michael Gorham and Anthony Pecoraro.
Trainer Jamie Ness has a big lead by wins, with his 36 wins to date 12 more than any other trainer has recorded. He’s also six-for-20 on the now-shuttered turf course. But top turf trainer honors at the meet go to Arnaud Delacour; he won with 10 of 33 grass starters. Proctor and Ness each had six turf wins.
The trainer rankings are crowded, as each of the top 10 has between 211 points (Gorham) and 295 points (leader Claudio Gonzalez). Others in the trainers’ top five include Delacour, Pecoraro, Ashby, and Ness.
TRACK BIAS REPORT
Power of Snunner won the 2017 Obeah at Delaware Park. Photo by Kathleen O’Leary.
- 10/03 – The track played reasonably fair for the mid-week return to racing with horses racing from the two to the four paths seeming to travel the best.
- 10/04 – The main track surface was a bit dull on Thursday with the inside portion playing dull and tiring. Most horses who had success made outside moves through the final turn into the stretch.
- 10/06 – The main strip continued to be a bit on the dull side with closers and stalkers finding the most success. There were some wire-to-wire winners but those came in races with slow paces.
- 10/08 – The track seemed a bit quicker on Monday and as is usually the case when the track tightens up, speed and close up runners had a bit of an advantage.
