Midnight Trouble stretching back out in Rocky Run

David L. Neilson’s Midnight Trouble, never worse than third in five career outings, will look for his first career stakes victory in in the $100,000 Rocky Run Stakes at Delaware Park this Saturday. The one-mile affair for 2-year-olds has attracted a field of seven.

Midnight Trouble will be stretching back out after running third in the Delaware Certified, six furlong, $100,000 First State Dash at Delaware Park on September 29. Previously, the Kentucky-bred son of Midnight Lute trained by Anthony Pecoraro won a one-mile allowance by 7 ¾-lengths at Delaware Park on September 10.

He has a career record of two wins and three thirds from five starts with earnings of $84,850. Neilson had purchased him for $13,000 as a yearling.

“This is a good opportunity at the right time,” said Pecoraro. “He has been training well, and we would like to get him back going two turns. With the nice purse and the race being over his home track, we thought we should give it a shot and see what he can do.”

Midnight Trouble is 3-1 on the morning line and will have Jeremy Rose in the irons.

The 2-1 morning line favorite for the Rocky Run is Cash Is King & LC Racing’s Tuskegee Airmen. In his only career outing, Tuskegee Airmen notched a 5 ½-length score in a seven-furlong maiden at Parx on September 24. The Kentucky-bred son of Street Sense is trained by John Servis.

Tuskegee Airmen was a $290,000 auction purchase as a yearling, and his sharp maiden score came on the first race of the Pennsylvania Derby undercard. Paco Lopez is named to ride.

The field also includes Dataman (4-1), trying the dirt after a sixth-place finish in the Grade 2 Pilgrim on the turf; Saloon (6-1), sixth in the Sapling after winning at first asking; Dover Stakes show horse Mean Tweets (10-1); Dover Stakes runner-up Riccio (8-1), a two-time winner; and Handsome Playboy (8-1), fifth on the synthetic at Presque Isle Downs in last.

The Rocky Run is carded as the sixth race on an eight-race program. Post time for the card is 12:30 p.m.

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