Delaware Park picks and horses to watch: August 29

Photo by HoofprintsInc.com.

We’ve got Delaware Park picks and horses to watch for Saturday, August 29. The card features eight races.

Race 1 — Maiden special weight

• Two-year-old maidens will go five furlongs on the main track.
• On the one hand, Noble Mission progeny — like #6 Noble Callisto (5-1) — only win about 4% of the time at first asking. On the other hand, trainer Ron Potts is 11-for-31 with two-year-olds making their career bow in special weight company. One of those trends will have to give in here. This PA-bred has been working well enough over the strip… Only one of these has a sibling who won at first asking; that’s #4 Aztar (3-1), a $90,000 son of Star Guitar. Trainer Camejo is 2-for-13 with 2yo debuting in special weight company, and this one has gradually been rounding into shape… His dam wasn’t much of a runner, and his only sib wasn’t, either, but #1 Sir Wellington (4-1) still cost $55k at auction; the Palace colt comes from the Robertson barn, which wins 24% of the time with 2yo first-timers… Curious to see #5 Jack Gave Back (5-1) in this spot; trainer Wilkes doesn’t ship to DEL often — just twice in five years, and those for stakes races — and this one has been training at his Churchill base. But do note that Wilkes is just a 6% trainer with first-timers…

How’d we do on Thursday? Thursday’s Delaware Park Horses to Watch

Race 6 — Allowance/optional claiming

• Fillies and mares three and up will go 5 1/2 furlongs on the main track in a second-level allowance with an optional claiming tag of $25,000.
• Let’s play beat the favorite. The chalk in here is #2 Blue Eyed Girl (2-1), making her first start since February, when she backed up late to finish fifth in the G3 Fritchie. It wasn’t a great group that day, but still, it is the Fritchie. In her two starts prior to that, she’d won a first allowance by three lengths and a second allowance by six. So why is new trainer Jamie Ness starting her here, in for the $25,000 tag? Certainly her form before the break would warrant a try in third-level allowance company, so… That, coupled with the presence of other speed in here that probably won’t do her running style any favors, leads us to look elsewhere… #1 Corn Off the Cob (3-1) seems to be getting good now for trainer Claudio Gonzalez; she’s won three of six and finished third in the other three. Last time out, she ripped off a seven-length win in allowance company, she loves this trip, and she figures to get a good trip off plentiful early types… Another who might get a good trip here is #6 Warm (6-1). The Magee trainee has won at this level, and after a couple of clunkers against better, she’s dropping back into the kind of company where she’s competed before. Demand value, but she can compete here.

Who tops latest Midlantic jockey, trainer ratings?

WAGERS

• Race 1: $1 exacta box –1, 3, 4, 6 (cost: $12.00)
• Race 6: $2 exacta — 1, 6 w/ 2, 3, 4, 5 ($16.00)
• Good luck!

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