Delaware Park picks and horses to watch: July 22

Photo by HoofprintsInc.com.

We’ve got Delaware Park picks and horses to watch for the Wednesday, July 22 card. Ten races are on tap.

Race 3 — Maiden special weight

• Two-year-old maidens will go 5 1/2 furlongs on the main track.
• Three weeks back, on July 1, Delaware hosted two divisions of a two-year-old maiden race, both at five furlongs. One of the two divisions was just shy of one second — an eternity at five-eighths — faster than the other, and that faster group provides three runners for this contest: #2 Waist Deep (3-1), who led for a long way before settling for third, beaten two lengths; #5 San Antone (2-1), who chased, led, but had to settle for second; and #6 Gaming Jack (4-1), who finished fourth. Value here might be with Gaming Jack, who gets blinkers on for this contest, and if ever there was a horse who gave evidence of needing them, it’s this one. The Jerry Robb trainee broke pretty well, dropped back, had to steady on the turn while starting to show some life, and then finished up pretty well while very green in the lane. With Laurel Park riders having to stay home, Brian Pedroza takes the mount.

Race  5 — Allowance

• Fillies and mares three-years-old and up will go 1 mile 70 yards on the main track in a first-level allowance.
• We can probably draw a line through that last one for #2 Pat’s No Fool (6-1), who had an inauspicious turf bow in her first try in a year after seven races on the dirt. She’s a stakes winner — against NY-breds — who also placed in two other stakes against open rivals. In her second start off the long break and for a trainer — Gary Capuano — known for having horses improve second time off the bench, this one can be a major player today. When last seen locally, this miss was a better-than-we-knew-at-the-time second behind Souper Escape, who this past Saturday won a graded stake on the synthetic at Woodbine.
• While Happy Vale, the dam of #3 Lasting Union (3-1), was unraced, granddam Indian Vale was a four-time graded stakes winner. This gal, a $190,000 yearling, looks to be moving in the right direction after a front-running score to graduate at Laurel Park. 

WAGERS

• Race 1: 50-cent Pick 1, 3, 6 w/ 4, 5, 7, 8 w/ 2, 5, 6 ($18.00)
• Race 5: $2 exacta 2, 3 w/ All ($20.00)
• Good luck!

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