Admiral Dennis, a 3-year-old colt trained by Brad Cox, won the first running of the $200,000 Delaware Derby on Saturday. After coming up short on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, Cox decided to commence the colt's summer campaign at Delaware Park, where he kicked away to a commanding 3 1/4-length victory. “It’s a great start,” said Trace Messina, Cox's assistant. “We gave him a little breather after the Blue Grass and then thought that today would be a little class relief. You don’t have to face horses like Burnham Square, East Avenue, horses at the top of the division, and it paid off. In the Grade 1 Blue Grass and Grade 2 Rebel earlier this year, Admiral Dennis’s main issue was gate speed, as he seemed to squander winning chances at the start of both races. Messina and jockey Luan Machado spoke before the Delaware Derby and agreed to focus on a more aggressive beginning. Even after that conversation, however, Machado was surprised when Admiral Dennis settled just behind early leader Kentucky Outlaw through an opening quarter-mile in 23.06 seconds. He had trailed in his two starts before the layoff, but he was never worse than second at any point on Saturday. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. “He was a little closer than I expected him to be,” Machado said. “But he got a very good break, much better than he has been breaking lately. He’s such a big horse with long strides, I didn’t want to take anything from him.” When Kentucky Outlaw began flagging after completing three quarters in 1:11.49, Admiral Dennis easily pulled ahead and led by a length at the top of the stretch. With a little urging from Machado, the colt kicked away from there, leaving most in the field well behind him. He finished the 1 1/16-mile race in 1:43.57, paying $6.40 to win. The final decision concerning Admiral Dennis’s next start will obviously be made by Cox, but Messina outlined a plan to stick around this level of 3-year-old stakes company. “Probably Midwest, stick to the Midwest derbies,” Messina said. “Maybe West Virginia, St. Louis. He’s going to be a very useful horse this summer.” Barbadian Runner, a three-time stakes winner testing deeper waters, easily passed Kentucky Outlaw for second in the stretch. Trainer Henry Walters nominated the gelding for at least three stakes races this month, but this turned out to be a solid choice for the 10-1 outsider. Kentucky Outlaw, who may have been bet down to 9-5 odds because of his front-running style and Paco Lopez’s success earlier in the day, held on for third. Alapocas Run Full Moon Madness and Irad Ortiz Jr. made the last move a winning one in the $100,000 Alapocas Run Stakes at Delaware Park Saturday. The 5-year-old gelding stalked an honest early pace and had just enough room to chase down Buccherino at the wire. “I was in a good position, I think, despite my timing,” Ortiz said. “Probably could have got out earlier, but I knew the horse to beat was probably in front of me, so I decided to wait until he made his run and go around him. It worked out good.” The Michelle Nevin trainee had traveled outside New York just once in his 14-race career entering this weekend. In March, he won the Grade 3 Tom Fool at Aqueduct but recently finished out of the money in the Grade 2 Carter and Grade 3 John A. Nerud. The classy gelding had not been favored in a race since January 2024 but paid $5.80 to win on Saturday. Full Moon Madness’s versatility has given him an edge throughout his career, and when several rivals in the Alapocas Run pushed ahead early, Ortiz did not urge him for more. They settled back to fourth on the backstretch as front-runner Sunny Breeze completed the opening quarter-mile in 22.70 seconds. Heading into the far turn through a half-mile in 46.20 seconds, Buccherino, trained by Alfredo Velazquez, made a bid from second to grind down Sunny Breeze and led by a head at the top of the stretch. Full Moon Madness moved into third, a length behind the top pair, but still had work to do as Buccherino and Paco Lopez drove ahead with plenty left. Blowing right past Sunny Breeze and into second, Full Moon Madness continued to make up ground on Buccherino with a furlong to go. Moving faster but quickly running out of room, Ortiz continued urging his gelding forward and finally pulled ahead in the final strides. He won by a neck, finishing the six-furlong sprint in 1:11.02. Damon’s Mound, the 9-5 co-favorite trained by Bill Mott, closed from last to finish third, but the 5-year-old horse never factored in the result. Lopez went on to earn four victories on the 10-race card, pipping Ortiz, who finished with three. But in this head-to-head matchup, Ortiz simply had a little more horse under him in the end. Obeah After earning two stylish victories earlier on the Saturday card at Delaware Park, jockey Paco Lopez rocked the field to sleep to win the $150,000 Obeah aboard front-running longshot Malibu Beauty. Watching his 7-year-old mare cruise along on the front end, trainer Gary Capuano knew she was going to stick around well before she turned for home. “I was feeling good going into the far turn. I could see Paco was pretty confident. He had to fight her a little bit down the backside to try to slow her down, but from then on, it seemed like she relaxed. Coming into the 5/16 pole, I saw him take a peek back, so I knew he had horse, and I didn’t see anyone running.” Though she paid $22.00 to win, clearly surprising many bettors who favored classier contenders, there were hints that Malibu Beauty might be an imposing threat on the lead. Into Amore and Done Enough, both front-running rivals in the field of eight, were scratched. Lopez didn’t need an invitation out of the gate and went straight to the front. Gun Song, the 3-2 favorite trained by Mark Hennig, sat behind her in second throughout the race. By the time Malibu Beauty completed a half-mile in 47.36 seconds, she was already two lengths in front, and though Gun Song turned up the heat on the far turn, she never got within striking distance. By the time Lopez and his mare hit the top of the stretch, they were gone, extending a two-length lead into a three-length victory at the wire. She finished the 1 1/16-mile race in 1:44.61. Gun Song, the beaten favorite trained by Mark Henning, was never challenged as the runner-up. Ragtime Belle, a 28-1 longshot trained by Brittany Russell, closed from last to finish third. Capuano said that he can’t help but think of sending Malibu Beauty to the Grade 3 Delaware Handicap in late September. He admitted that it’s still just a dream, as the mare still has plenty of work to do over the summer. Those concerns weren’t at the forefront of the local trainer’s mind in the winner’s circle, however. Cape Henlopen The $200,000 Cape Henlopen Stakes at Delaware Park may have been postponed two weeks by rain, but 4-year-old gelding Vote No didn’t waste a second flying home to a three-quarter-length victory. Paco Lopez was aboard for his fourth win of the day. “It was a long race and actually not a lot of speed,” Lopez said. “I let it go with my horse. We wanted to come behind other horses, very good, and pick it up and come in the stretch and give it a big run.” In stark contrast to the four stakes race on dirt at Delaware Park Saturday, the Cape Henlopen was a 1 1/2-mile event on turf and attracted a competitive field of 10. Many predicted that a stampede of closers would determine the result, but front-runner Dripping Gold set the terms for the vast majority of the race, while several forwardly placed outsiders settled just behind him and far outran their odds. All of them were powerless against Vote No in the end, however. For a moment, at the top of the stretch, it seemed like the clear top four would run in order to the wire, as the early leaders weren’t giving in. But in an instant, the quartet compressed like an accordion. Vote No, who had hustled up from eighth to fourth with a quarter-mile to go, closed down the center of the track and passed all three rivals in a few strides, finishing in 2:27.61. A 15-1 shot on the morning line, the Lopez effect may have been partially responsible for his $6.40 win payout. Harrow, who made his last start for Saffie Joseph Jr. in Barbados in March, stalked the pace from the very beginning and passed Dripping Gold and 18-1 longshot Starting Over in the stretch to finish second. Starting Over, trained by Brittany Russell, finally got by Dripping Gold for third after tracking the front-runner throughout the race. On a card that featured the likes of Irad Ortiz Jr., John Velazquez, and Junior Alvarado, Lopez led the way with four victories. He took two of the four stakes races, as did Ortiz. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.