Big Cuddle has not yet met his match in stakes company as he moved up in the world on Saturday at Delaware Park. With a profoundly confident ride from jockey Yedsit Hazlewood, the 3-year-old colt stormed home to win the $300,000 Delaware Derby by four lengths. Settled in fourth in the early going, the ever-improving Maryland-bred stalked early leaders Ponder and Dream and Out of the Woods through an opening quarter-mile in 24.30 seconds and a half-mile in 48.29. Hazlewood ran out of patience, however, and unleashed Big Cuddle with an explosive move entering the far turn, easily moving clear of fellow stalker Sovereign Law to challenge the top flight. Traveling outside of both front-runners and doing all the work to put them away turning for home, Big Cuddle might have been vulnerable to closers if any had managed to mount a challenge. No one asked the question, however, giving Hazlewood little to do while bounding away to an easy victory. “I got a lot of horse today,” Hazlewood said. “My horse had a really good race. For me, the best horse in the the race was [Sovereign Law], so I just followed him on the backside. I see him make a move, and my horse responded to me.” :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Gary Capuano, who has now prepared Big Cuddle for three winning stakes in five career starts, said he never doubted Hazlewood, who has struck up a profound working relationship with the trainer. The two entered the Saturday card at Delaware with a 41 percent strike rate in 119 starts together. “You’re riding against the best riders in the country, the best in the world,” Capuano said. “You got [Irad Ortiz] and Johnny [Velazquez], just Hall of Famers. And this kid, he’s been getting better and better. I got a lot of confidence in him. He has a lot of confidence in the horse.” In a little more than a year since his debut at Laurel Park, Hazlewood has made an outstanding mark in the Mid-Atlantic region, winning his first riding title at Laurel Park last fall. He has already earned 12 stakes victories, and in the winner’s circle he didn’t hesitate to say that the Delaware Derby was the biggest score of his career. Litmus Test, who would have been the first Kentucky Derby runner to participate in the Delaware Derby, scratched, leaving a field of six. Even if the Bob Baffert trainee had come for the race, however, it’s difficult to imagine the front-runner holding up against Big Cuddle’s late surge.  Capuano was mightily impressed when his Mid-Atlantic colt upset Final Story in the $100,000 Sir Barton at Laurel last time out, but the trainer had even more to say about his showing at Delaware. He completed the 1 1/16-mile distance in 1:44.27 and paid $4.60 to win. “He got a really good trip today,” Capuano said. “Things worked out just right. He was able to just sit off the pace. He kind of looked like he was dragging [Hazlewood] up there going into the three-eighths pole, making his move. He’s just been a great horse to be around, and he's just getting better each time.” Out of the Woods, a last-out allowance winner trained by Phil D’Amato, held on for second, weathering the early duel with Ponder and Dream to take a minor prize. He finished 1 1/2 lengths clear behind familiar rival Sovereign Law, who also finished behind him last time out at Keeneland for trainer Brad Cox. Obeah Stakes There were a handful of commanding efforts on Saturday at Delaware Park, but no one scored as easily as Chasten in the $150,000 Obeah Stakes. To put it simply, the best filly got the best trip in a 6 1/4-length rout under Irad Ortiz Jr. “They went in front of me like I expected, and then I took my time from there,” Ortiz said. “At the three-eighths pole, I started letting her do her thing and she ran her race, honestly.” Ortiz, who won three stakes on the Delaware card, had never ridden Chasten, but the 1 1/16-mile race could not have set up in a more straightforward manner. Trace Messina, the assistant to trainer Brad Cox, grew more confident with each step while watching on. “I felt good throughout the whole race,” Messina said. “When I saw [Late Nite Call] being aggressive with [Amalfi Drive], and our filly sitting in the trip, I felt good the whole way.” Amalfi Drive, the 6-5 second choice and only challenger to the 1-2 favorite, went to the early lead from the rail, but she was immediately challenged when 39-1 longshot Late Nite Call hustled forward entering the first turn. The top two dueled through an opening quarter-mile in 23.50 seconds. Chasten, who was coming off a solid fifth in the Grade 1 La Troienne at Churchill Downs, had it as she liked it in shallower waters on Saturday. Stalking from fourth and then third through a half-mile in 46.57, she began advancing on the leaders without much urging. Amalfi Drive, game under Luis Saez, tried her best to mount a challenge for trainer Michael Stidham, but the last-out allowance winner simply wasn’t equipped to contend. Chasten blew past on the far turn and sailed away in the stretch. She completed the 1 1/16-mile distance in 1:43.83. If not for Amalfi Drive, who finished 9 3/4 lengths clear of the Anthony Pecoraro-trained filly Beautiful Blome in third, Chasten’s advantage over the Mid-Atlantic field would have been visually devastating. Instead, it merely appeared effortless. She paid $3 to win. Though she was still finding her way as a 3-year-old, Messina said the Cox barn also knew she could be a stakes-caliber runner. In March, she returned from a short break and won the first division of the $100,000 Sandy Bottom with a 95 Beyer Speed Figure, cementing that notion. “She wasn't running bad as a 3-year-old, but her numbers weren't where we needed them to be,” Messina said. “So we just gave her time, let her out a little bit physically. "She came back, her works improved, her races have improved. She's more involved early on in the race. The time off is key.” Messina said the filly is likely to re-enter graded stakes company soon, naming the Grade 3 Shuvee at Saratoga and Grade 3 Molly Pitcher at Monmouth as potential spots next month. Alapocas Run Stakes Quint’s Brew made the most of his first career start at Delaware Park, overcoming traffic from well back to win the $100,000 Alapocas Run Stakes by a half-length. With the long-overdue opportunity to run over his home track, he proved undeniable in his sixth stakes victory. “He’d been training super here,” trainer Ned Allard said. “He always gives it his best shot. The [Grade 3 Westchester last month], I thought it was maybe a little too far and a little too tough, and I think he's getting sick of shipping. We really wanted to see if we could run him from home. He ran a monster race.” Based at Delaware since May 2024, Quint’s Brew entered the Alapocas Run as a sneaky horse for the course, one who has obviously grown comfortable over the track without showing his hand in the afternoon. Bettors let him slip away on the tote board early, perhaps because of his fourth in the Westchester last time out. But even after receiving some late attention, he still paid $12.60 to win. After going for the early lead in his last three starts, the 5-year-old gelding’s hand seemed forced when he drew the rail, but Forest Boyce had another idea. The Maryland-bred backed all the way to last at the start and remained near the back early in the six-furlong sprint. “There’s no point in trying to outgun a bunch of really quick ones if your horse can sit a little off,” Boyce said. “We got lucky and he was happy to do it.” Haileysfirstnotion, the Capuano-trained 9-5 favorite, dueled with 2-1 second choice Just Beat the Odds through an opening quarter-mile in 22.14 seconds and a half-mile in 45.34. Those two front-runners were creating problems for one another, but no one seemed to have it worse than Quint’s Brew entering the far turn. Despite running on with a ton of energy from the back, Boyce had an extremely tough time finding running room, getting blocked on at least two occasions while trying to find a seam. Quint’s Brew was still in fifth at the top of the stretch, at which point the jockey managed to split rivals and come flying down the center. “Around the three-eighths pole, I figured we were in trouble,” Allard said. “And then I see them coming on between horses.” Neither of the front-runners faded in the Alapocas Run, making Quint’s Brew earn every step, but in the end, the gutsy local contender put in the work to run them down. He completed the six-furlong distance in 1:10.08. Haileysfirstnotion, similarly denied in the Grade 3 Maryland Sprint last time out, finished 1 1/2 lengths clear of Just Beat the Odds, who finished second in the $2 million Riyadh Dirt Sprint in February for Gregory Sacco. For most of his career, Quint’s Brew and Allard have had to travel up and down the East Coast to test the gelding’s mettle against graded-stakes-caliber contenders. They came to him on Saturday, much to their peril. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? 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