Delaware Park: Beyer Figures strong coming into Eight Thirty

Hoofprints, Inc.

Global Power wins the Sussex by a neck, earning a 93 Beyer Figure.

Recent stakes winners Global Power and Lentenor are among four turf runners coming off career-best Beyer Speed Figures entered in Saturday’s $50,000 Eight Thirty Stakes at Delaware Park.

The 4-year-old Global Power, based at Churchill Downs with trainer Tom Amoss, comes into the 7 1/2-furlong Eight Thirty following a neck victory at 8-1 in the $100,000 Sussex at Delaware on July 21. He was awarded a 93 Beyer Figure and will be seeking his third straight win Saturday.

Lentenor, a 5-year-old full brother to 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, produced a career-high 90 Beyer for his head victory in the 1 1/16-mile Kitten’s Joy at Colonial Downs on July 21.

The field also includes Utley, who managed a career-best 88 Beyer despite finishing fifth as the favorite in the Sussex, and Bad Debt, who makes his first start since earning a career-high 90 Beyer for his second-place finish in a $20,000 starter handicap at Belmont Park on June 30.

The handicapping puzzle is complicated by the presence of in-form turf runners Mikoshi, Sleepless Knight, and London Lane.

Mikoshi, claimed by trainer Jane Cibelli out of his last start for $32,000 at Monmouth Park, owns a 2-for-3 record over Delaware’s turf course, including a three-quarter-length win for a $35,000 claiming price on June 9 and a third in the 2011 Sussex with an 89 Beyer.

Sleepless Knight is winless in five starts this season, but has posted a string of strong Beyers (86-90-87) in his last three starts, and that makes him dangerous in this spot.

London Lane has earned Beyers of 89 and 92 in his two most recent outings, beaten two lengths in the Sussex and winning an optional $50,000 claimer.