Delaware turf route stakes come up tough
Two graded winners among six in Dick Mem’l
The Biz
June 13, 2026
Delaware Park’s Saturday undercard features a pair of lengthy turf stakes: the 11-furlong, Grade 3 Robert G. Dick Memorial for fillies and mares and the 12-furlong Cape Henlopen for three-year-olds and up. Both have come up tough.
Moyglare Stud Farm’s Bellezza tops the $250,000 Dick Memorial. The mile and three eighths turf affair for fillies and mares has attracted a field of six.
In her only outing this year, Bellezza ran sixth in the mile and a half Grade III Orchid at Gulfstream Park on March 28. Last year, the 5-year-old daughter of Slyouni won both the Grade II Flower Bowl at Saratoga and the Grade III Sheepshead Bay. The Ireland-bred trained by Miguel Clement also ran sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, second in the Grade II Glen Falls and third in the Grade I New York. She has a career record of four wins, three seconds and two thirds from 13 starts with earnings of $615,622.
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The race could bear a strong resemblance to last month’s Grade 3 Sheepshead Bay at Aqueduct. In that contest, the Amelia Green-trained Storm Miami led most of the trip before succumbing to the late run of No Show Sammy Jo. Storm Miami, who will have Luis Saez up, looks to be lone speed in here, but this field is tougher than that one was.
Another major player looks to be the Bill Mott-trained Alluring Angel, an easy winner in the Grade 3 Long Island last November. She had two off-color outings following that, at which point Mott put her away. She returns today for the first time in nearly five months and has four wins and over $425,000 banked from 15 career starts.
The Dick Memorial is the seventh race on the card. Two races later, the boys tackle the lawn in the Cape Henlopen.
The contentious affair includes 2024 Kent winner Desvio and 2025 Cape Henlopen winner Vote No, along with 2025 Kent winner Soleil Volant, a Graham Motion trainee who is 2-for-2 on the Delaware green.
Looking to upset the apple cart will be Purpura Racing’s Hall Monitor, who will test stakes company for the first time when he faces nine rivals in the mile and a half $200,000 Cape Henlopen Stakes.
Since trainer Blake Kelly claimed the son of Karakonite at Delaware Park on August 28, he has steadily improved. In his most recent, the Kentucky-bred won a mile and a half turf allowance at Keeneland on April 22. Previously, he was third in a mile and a half turf allowance at Gulfstream Park on March 7.
“When I claimed him for $35,000 at Delaware last year, I thought he was a mile and a half horse,” said trainer Blake Kelly. “I thought we were going to see his potential develop as he got older. After he ran a really good third in a tough allowance at Gulfstream, I mapped out his last race at Keeneland and then this stake. He is coming into this race phenomenally. I could not be happier. He looks great and he is training well. He has done everything we wanted him to do to give him this opportunity. It is definitely a step up. There is no question about that. But he deserves this opportunity. Since we have had him, he has gotten better with each race.”
Hall Monitor has a career record of three wins, a second and two thirds from 12 starts with earnings of $120,160.
The Madison Meyers-trained Desvio, three back winner of the Grade 2 Sycamore at Keeneland, is the 2-1 morning line favorite and will have John Velazquez up. Vote No, winless since last year’s Cape Henlopen, is 7-2 on the morning line. Luis Saez will ride for Kelsey Danner.
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