The Delaware Park racing office has put together an interesting undercard to support the $300,000 Delaware Oaks, the second richest stakes of its season. Rosalind is the horse to beat in the Grade 3 Robert G. Dick Memorial, but Kitten’s Point and Lady of Gold, both trained by Graham Motion, also figure strongly.
If Urban Achiever wins the second race at Hastings Saturday, there won’t be enough space in the winner’s enclosure to take the traditional win picture. The 2-year-old colt by Idiot Proof is the first horse to start for the Hastings Racing Club.
Shared Belief, the champion 2-year-old male of 2013, is being walked on a daily basis at a training center in Washington state, part of a recovery from a hip injury that led to the 4-year-old gelding being pulled up in the $1.45 million Charles Town Classic in West Virginia in April.
The $200,000 Great Lady M. Stakes at Los Alamitos on Saturday serves different purposes for the Grade 1 winner Warren’s Veneda and the undefeated California-bred stakes winner Sunday Rules.
The gap between stakes will be more than a month at Gulfstream Park, which partly helps explain why mere first-level allowances serve as nominal features Saturday at the south Florida track.
The Renaissance Man meets the undefeated filly Jessa Louisiana Zoom in Saturday night’s $634,530 Lee Berwick Futurity, the highlight of a program of seven Quarter Horse stakes at Delta Downs. The Louisiana Showcase card, which also includes the $217,640 Delta Downs Derby and the $100,000 Louisiana Classic, closes out the meet in Vinton, La.
On June 20, Brazen Beau was second in the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot, finishing a half-length behind the American-based winner Undrafted. Saturday at Newmarket, Brazen Beau is likely to be favored in the $768,000 July Cup at six furlongs.
R Valentino was impressive winning a maiden special weight race in his first start of the year, and will be tested for class when he runs in a first-level allowance race at Northlands Park Saturday. The 6 1/2-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up drew eight horses and appears to be a wide-open event.
The local starlet Stoupinator takes aim at her stiffest task to date when she faces eight rivals in Saturday’s $100,000 Lady Canterbury Stakes, a turf race for fillies and mares.
The interesting shippers Dorsett and Mister Marti Gras face local forces Az Ridge and El Seventyseven in Saturday’s co-featured $100,000 Mystic Lake Mile, a turf event which attracted 11 entrants.
