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Del Mar swings into action this weekend, I'm a Chatterbox headlines the rich Delaware Handicap and the Indiana Derby marks the peak of the Hoosier racing season. Internationally, a big upset marked Thursday's Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris at Saint-Cloud. Still to come: the Irish Oaks at the Curragh and the Mercury Sprint at Greyville in South Africa.
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And there's plenty more where that came from. So let's get going. And happy Bastille Day.
Distaff
I'm a Chatterbox, Paid Up Subscriber and Penwith are the morning-line favorites in a field of six for Saturday's $750,000, Grade I Delaware Handicap at Delaware Park. I'm a Chatterbox, a 4-year-old Munnings filly, has been a consistent graded stakes performer and won the local Obeah Handicap in preparation for this. Paid Up Subscriber, a 4-year-old daughter of Candy Ride, won both her starts during the recently concluded Churchill Downs spring meeting, including the Grade II Fleur de Lis. Penwith won the Grade II Royal Delta at Gulfstream Park earlier in the year but was overmatched in Grade I events in California and Kentucky. I'm a Chatterbox's trainer, Larry Jones, said his filly "has been doing well. We've worked her one time since the Obeah, but she got enough out of that race to cover her a long way. She should be ready to go."
A field of eight is set for Saturday night's $200,000, Grade II Indiana Oaks at Indiana Grand. Dream Dance was second in the Grade II Fair Grounds Oaks and eighth in the Kentucky Oaks. Dothraki Queen won her first two starts and was third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies but has been going the wrong way ever since. Bob Baffert's California contingent includes Emmzy, winner of two in a row back home. Iowa Oaks winner Family Tree has missed the board only once in eight starts.
Classic
Saturday night's $500,000, Grade II Indiana Derby at Indiana Grand came up tough. Bob Baffert brings California-trained Cupid, once a hot Kentucky Derby prospect and winner of the Grade II Rebel at Oaklawn Park. Dale Romans travels up Interstate 65 from Louisville with Cherry Wine, second in the Preakness and seventh in the Belmont. Trekking down that same Interstate from Arlington Park for trainer Larry Rivelli is Cocked and Loaded, winner of the Grade III Iroquois at Churchill Downs last season. He shows signs of reawakening after a fourth in last month's Ohio Derby. Discreet Lover, third in the Ohio Derby, is in from his Pennsylvania base. Others to watch: Star Hill, third in both the Grade III Pat Day Mile in Louisville and the Grade II Woody Stephens at Belmont; Another Romans trainee, Takeittotheedge, who took some time off after running seventh in the Florida Derby and ran okay in a comeback effort; The Player, who stretches out to 1 1/16 miles after back-to-back wins. Turf
Inspector Lynley and Mighty Mo are the early picks among eight in for Saturday's $200,000, Grade III Kent Stakes for 3-year-olds at Delaware Park. Neither sports a record that would scare anyone off and the locally based prospect is He'll Pay. The latter was fourth after traffic issues in the local Stanton Stakes at 1 1/16 miles -- a sixteenth shorter than Saturday's distance.
Filly & Mare Turf
Look past the last race for each of the nine contestants in Saturday's $200,000, Grade II Yellow Ribbon at Del Mar. Finest City, for example, finished third in her last start, the Grade I Vanity Mile. But that was against Beholder and Stellar Wind, who are nowhere to be found in the Yellow Ribbon. On the other hand, the Vanity was on the main track and the Yellow Ribbon is on the dirt. Finest City's only try on the green course was down the Santa Anita hill and she finished out of the money. She's Not Here has finished up the track in her last six starts. But look farther back and see that she won last year's Yellow Ribbon and is 2-for-2 at Del Mar. Several of the others have been struggling but show a lot of back class. Verdict: Tough to figure.
Turf Mile
Del Mar's traditional opener, the restricted Oceanside Stakes for 3-year-olds, often has been oversubscribed and divided. This year, it's going with a scrum of 16 for Friday's renewal -- from Diplodocus on the rail to All the Marbles in the outside gate. The morning-line picks are Italian-bred Moonlight Drive, an easy winner in his first U.S. start; and Dressed in Hermes, who has run better in California than elsewhere. In truth, this looks like a program-stabber.
International
France
Mont Ormel staged a bit of a revolution on Bastille Day Thursday in the Group 1 Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris for 3-year-olds at Saint-Cloud. At long odds, the Air Chief Marshall colt took the lead a quarter mile from home and easily fended off Red Verdon, winning by 1 1/4 lengths. Cloth of Stars was third and the favorite, Mekhtaal, reported fourth. Mont Ormel, with Cristian Demuro up, ran 1 1/2 miles in 2:29.56 over good to soft going. He scored his third win and first in Group company. It also was the first Group 1 win for trainer Pia Brandt, who said she will have to have a think about things. "We didn't expect to win a Group 1 so now we'll have to talk about what to do," she said. Red Verdon, for his part, is the hope of trainer Ed Dunlop and owner Ron Arculli to fill the void left by the death last year of popular globetrotting runner Red Cadeaux.
Ireland
In the absence of Minding, Even Song, winner of the Group 2 Ribblesdale last month at Ascot, looks like a capable standard-bearer for trainer Aidan O'Brien in Saturday's Group I Darley Irish Oaks at the Curragh. The Mastercraftsman filly is the hot favorite among 12 confirmed for the 1 1/2-miles event. Those looking for a better price could turn to Architecture, who was second in the Epsom Oaks but then eighth in the Ribblesdale, or Ajman Princess, a non-threatening second in the Ribblesdale. The longest chance on the early line is Way to My Heart, a well-bred but so far winless Galileo colt trained by Aidan O'Brien's former jockey son, Joseph Patrick O'Brien. {b: South Africa}
Saturday's feature at Greyville is the Group 1 Mercury Sprint at 1,200 meters. The preferred runners, Talktothestars and Carry On Alice, are drawn wide and will need some running luck in the event. Trip Tease, drawn in the No. 1 slot, will benefit from the riding services of Vodacom Durban July winner Piere Strydom, who abandons Talktothestars for this spot.
Elsewhere:
There are four listed stakes, on both turf and dirt, on Saturday night's Indiana Derby card at Indiana Grand.
It's always worth watching the events for state-bred juveniles at this time of year. This weekend, look to Evangeline Downs on Saturday night for the gender-specific divisions of the D.S. "Shine" Young Memorial Futurity, Saturday's Edmonton Juvenile and Princess Margaret at Northlands Park, and the Rockville Center on Saturday and the Lynbrook Stakes on Sunday at Belmont Park. Sunday's Victoria Stakes at Woodbine and the Angie C. and Emerald Express at Emerald Downs are open events.
