DEL Handicap (Grade 1)- $750.000 Purse
DEL- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Quarter on the Dirt
July 18, 2015
For this year’s running of the DEL Handicap, we will have one of the largest fields in which the stake has seen, and not seen since its day of running for $1,000.000. This should lead to a fantastic race as eleven of the best female distance runners head to the nation’s first state in hopes of winning one of the biggest events that are held here at this track. When it first appeared in 2006, the race was classified as a Grade 2, and ran for the aforementioned $1,000.000. The purse remained at that level until 2010, where it was cut to its current amount. Despite the drop in purse, the stake saw an upgrade in its classification, becoming a Grade 1 in 2013. In that year, the great Avery Island would win the seventh of what was a seven race winning streak around that time. Looking back, it might be a little bit of a surprise since Avery Island is known a little more as a long sprinter, and in fact the ten furlongs she ran that day made it the longest race of her career. It’s a great list of past winners, as only two of the nine prior won less then $1,000.00 over the course of their career. Obviously, winning this purse helps with that career earning mark, but that shouldn’t detract from the careers of the greats. Team 7 Illusions and Yahudi Stables are the winningest trainers of the event, with two apiece. R Migliore is the only jockey to ride two winners, but he is enjoying his virtual retirement these days. For the tenth anniversary of the race, we get a field of eleven, so let’s meet them!
#1- Sinissippi Delite (Axeman, ridden by V Espinoza)- She had a great career while racing for her former trainer, Frozen Tundra, and certainly gave that trainer most of their top virtual racing memories. However, we’re going to see her in green, not blue silks this weekend as she makes her debut running for Axeman. On June 18th, the two trainers agreed to the sale of the four year old filly for $950.000, three months after she last raced for Frozen Tundra. Now, Axeman has had her month and is set to see what this filly, who has won almost $3,000.000 in her career can do for him. So far, she’s been a star, winning seven of 15 career races, most notably the BC Ladies Classic at SA back on Halloween. Since then, she’s actually only run twice, with the last being the Grade 1 Santa Margarita, a race she won and beat the likes of Zero Hour and A Class Angie. There’s nothing wrong in her works to suggest there’s been any problems with her, but regardless, she comes in here on a four month layoff. That’s the only concern I have with her.
#2- Ambient (Mb Stables, ridden by R Bejarano)- The next three in the starting gate all are trained by Mb Stables, who will have four in the DEL Handicap. Those paying close attention to current events are aware that starting in November, trainers are restricted to three entries in a race; something in which this writer is not a fan of; but let’s get back to Ambient. She is a four year old filly by Pure Steel, who during the winter months went on a four race winning streak that included the $250.000 SSM Distaff then the Grade 2 Inside Information in March. But you may be thinking, aren’t those races sprints? We have to go ten furlongs here! That didn’t stop Avery Island in 2013, and as one would anticipate, the trainer has been gearing her up to run longer, and a pair of recent works show that she is ready to run longer, especially when looking at how she ran the final two furlongs of those works. Ambient has a good shot in this, as note that she is also one of the lower weights here.
#3- Piston Broke (Mb Stables, ridden by I Ortiz Jr.)- Last year, Piston Broke took a shot at the DEL Handicap, but was not a factor, placing sixth of six, seven lengths back. It was likely the worst of her career since being claimed by Mb Stables, and she would love a chance to redeem herself in this one. I’d love to be able to say that she’s run off a stretch of wins or great finishes in other big races, but since that race she only tried a graded event one more time, and has been seen mainly in optional claimers or open allowances. She has finished better in these, but only her most recent start has she won again, a turf optional claimer at MTH. I’ll have to pass on her.
#4- Helping Hand (Mb Stables, ridden by E T Baird)- This four year old filly by Heroic Actions has certainly become a consistent one, running off a stretch of five consecutive SRF’s of exactly 96 before a recent run on an off track. Helping Hand always had talent, but she began to come into her own around the summer time last year, with good runs at SAR and BEL which eventually led the trainer to try in her in a couple graded stakes. She was a close second in the Ruffian (G2) at BEL, which disappointingly only had four horses in it. It will take more then a 96 to win this one, so we’ll see if the longest race of her career will allow her to accomplish that in order for her to be a factor here.
#5- Zero Hour (Sanny Village, ridden by M E Smith)- Since being purchased by Sanny Village in October, Zero Hour has thrived, winning three of her five career races. Before that private sales transaction, she was still a talented racehorse but she is fully living up to her potential here. Those wins were all in either graded stakes or with a purse big enough to be considered one, including the $400.000 HOU Ladies Classic in January. She is a horse that knows the DEL park scenery well, having won here in her last outing, capturing the Grade 3 Obeah stakes. Another thing I like about her here is her running style. There might be a lot of speed in this one, and Zero Hour looks to be one who knows how to bide her time comfortably sitting off the pace while not relying on a frantic close, to be able to capitalize.
#6- Pretty As A Picture (Mb Stables, ridden by J R Leparoux)- This filly by the late Snarl had a fantastic three year old campaign that saw her four out of eight races and take in $352.720 during 2014. Ironically, ok, maybe not all that ironically in our virtual world, three of her four wins in 2014 came via a dead heat. Therefore, when pictures are taken of her, the prettiness of them, for her, is compromised by another horse in the photo. Two of the dead heats came in graded events, the G2 Gazelle and the G3 Maple Leaf. As a four year old, she’s still been successful in picking up wins, taking two out of three, and doing so by winning them outright; but they are in open allowances, as she has not been back to graded stakes, until now. Her recent SRF’s show a concerning drop, but I hope that there is nothing to be read from that. I like this filly, and she needs this race.
#7- Devil Wears Prada (Maverick Racing, ridden by J L Velazquez)- Much like Pretty As A Picture, Devil Wears Prada had a brilliant three year old campaign, but she has not been able to carry that into this season. Her glory days were while running for Riddler Racing, where she captured the CCA Oaks (Grade 1, $300.000 Purse) at SAR, and then just missed in a second place run at the Grade 1 $1,000.000 Cotillion Stakes in her next start. Her form remained in top shape until she was auctioned off by Riddler Racing to Pan Farms for $442.010 this March. Pan Farms evidently was so disappointed in her 5th place run in the G1 Apple Blossom at OP (which doesn’t look that bad to us), that he sold her less then a month after buying her, for just $10.000 to Maverick Racing. She has raced just once for him, placing third in the Grade 1 Vanity Stakes. She can be quite the sleeper in this field if enough people at the betting window forget what she did last year.
#8- Charred Mayhem (Team 7 Illusions, ridden by S X Bridgmohan)- The trainer will look to break the tie between him and Yahudi Stables on the leaderboard of DEL Handicap, with this Charley Farley filly. She is still relatively lightly raced, so that should bode well for her, but she is going to have to improve if she wants to win this race. After winning her N1X race, she’s been midpack in a pair of graded stakes, which makes me wonder if she would best trying a lesser graded event then attempting the DEL Handicap. Her work times are good, but possibly come up short against a couple of the top contenders here. A win here though would certainly do wonders for her broodmare lease career if the trainer goes that route, as she already has some of the best bloodlines possible and a good enough conformation.
#9- Rosemari Perfect (Ekli Stable, ridden by R J Albarado)- This is the only three year old in the field, but due to a graded win in June, she is actually one of the higher weights in this field. That graded win though was also against older horses, coming in the Grade 2 Fleur De Lis, a race with BC implications. It is part of a three win in four race stretch for her, which also saw an impressive optional claimer win on the KYD undercard at CD in May, as well as the ungraded Busher Stakes. Her last two races were at a mile and an eighths, and she won while pulling away. She’s an interesting and a tricky play in this field, because her recent form shows that she can be a contender, but she’s never run against a field of this caliber here, as there are almost twice as many horses as there were in the Fleur de Lis. I see her as the X-factor here.
#10- Bonne Journee (Night Mare Racing, ridden by J J Castellano)- Naturally, we go from spending time talking about the Fleur de Lis to a filly with a French name. For Bonne Journee to have a bonne journee, Castellano will have to overcome this outside starting position. If so, then this fillies form has been magnifique of late, winning three of her last four races. Most recently, she was victorious in the Grade 3 Allaire Distaff Stakes in May at PIM, defeating Charred Mayhem in the process. Earlier this year she also won a pair of ungraded stakes, so she knows how to get to the winners circle when the pressure is on. She is working well, and I think she will really like going an additional furlong here. This is the toughest race she has been in to date, and while the future looks good for her, I can’t make her one of my top picks. However she should not be dismissed. Bonne chance!
#11- A Class Angie (Night Rider Stables, ridden by R Maragh)- This filly by Don’t Look Back Raj has turned into a consistent filly, being in the top three in thirteen of her 21 career starts with over $1,500.000 in career earnings. She has raced against many of those that she sees here today, and she has had her times to shine against them; especially in a win in the Grade 1 Cotillion at PRX last September, and if you want something more recent, how about her win the Grade 1 La Troienne at CD on KYO day. R Maragh has been her regular rider, and it will be good to see them together in the one as well. She’s a factor.
Prediction: (wide open field, but here it is): 1-2-7-11
— NS
Categories: Grade I
