The DeFrancis Memorial Dash- GIII
                           LRL Race 1 6F- Dirt
                              Purse $250.000
                      Three Year Olds and Up

A group of eight sprinters will be lining up at Laurel Park for the grade three DeFrancis Memorial Dash and try to get a good chunk of the two hundred and fifty dollar purse. There is one scratch in the field and the was the outside runner. Rain was in the forecast but it looked like it will be a fast track.

1. No Waiting (12-6-2-3 $338.250), trained by Mb Stables

The inside runner in the field and he is coming off of a grade one win in the Vanderbilt Handicap. He won that grade one at Saratoga last out by a quarter of a length and ran very fast that day. He looks pretty tough in this race also and he should be one of the favorites for sure and is my top pick.

2. Awkward Tremor (17-7-2-2 $264.800), trained by Asgar

While this horse boasts some stakes win the recent ones have came in Louisiana bred company at Delta and Evangeline Downs. The times he has stepped up in company with non statebred foes he hasn’t been successful. His last out he ran eighth in the Vigil at Woodbine and that doesn’t give him a shot here.

3. Roman Rage (26-7-4-4 $180.210), trained by Gdp Inc

Another one who boasts quite a few wins but like the horse to inside they have come against statebred company in Pennsylvania as of late. His last two wins were in Pennsylvania bred optional claimers. He did run third in the Tale Of The Cat at Saratoga last time but he will have to improve a lot to win here.

4. Lucky Star (20-4-10-1 $408.080), trained by Estero Farms

Oh what could be if this horse could turn at least half of those seconds into wins. He ran second last out in the Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga and got beat by No Waiting. I like this horse but he just seems to have a case of seconditis. Maybe this is the race he breaks that disease and gets a win.

5. Charentes (21-5-7-5 $178.940), trained by Angelos Stable

Here is a front running fool right here. This horse goes to the lead just about every time he goes to the gates. Sometimes it has paid off for him like when he won a stakes race at Ellis Park two back. But sometimes it doesn’t like last time when he faded to fourth in the Longacres Mile. He will need to go slow to win.

6. Socraties (20-5-3-4 $633.360), trained by T Boy Racing

And now we come to my horse. He is coming off of a fifth place finish in the grade one Crosby at Del Mar. I honestly hope the track is an off track because he is a very good mud horse. I think he is ready to run a big race and it wouldn’t surprise me if he won or if he didn’t run good at all honestly.

7. Cajun Cuffs (17-3-3-4 $155.430), trained by D J C Racing Stables

Here we got the horse coming out of the wizards barn and he will be cutting back in distance off of a no good finish in the mile and an eighth Whitney. He ran tenth that day and got beat by nine lengths. It’s been a while since he has sprinted so it’ll be interesting to see how he handles the one turn.

8. American Phuegoah (9-2-2-0 $65.060), trained by The A Stable

Here is a very lightly raced four year old gelding with only nine career starts. He has only ran three times this year and his last race was pretty impressive I thought. He ran fourth in the grade one Vanderbilt Handicap after being on the lead for most of the way. He will need to slow it down if he goes to the front.

9. Oh Awesome One (32-7-5-6 $766.420), trained by John Henry

Scratched

Summary

Well this is a pretty good race and there is definitely some tough horses in this field. No Waiting looks the toughest of all though as he is coming off of a grade one win in the Vanderbilt Handicap. He definitely could be beaten though but I think he will be pretty tough in this spot. Good luck to all in the race.

1-4-8-6

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES