Black, 50, wants 5,000

Five years or 50,000 miles is the standard warranty offered by most automobile manufacturers. Jockey Anthony Black uses a slight twist of that phrase to describe how much longer he intends to ride.

In Black's case, it's five years or 5,000 wins.

Black, who will turn 51 in September, comes into Saturday's program at Delaware Park needing 70 wins to reach 4,500 for his career. He admits he would like to reach the 5,000 milestone before he calls it quits, but only if he can remain competitive while in pursuit of that goal.

"My personal goal is 5,000. But I'm not going to aim for 5,000 if I don't think I can get there and compete and feel good," Black said. "I don't want to go out there and fake it. If I get beat, I want it to because of the way the race turned out and not because of my physical condition.

"The mental aspect of the game is a big part as well," he added. "Your reflexes have to be sharp and you have to be able to think quick and perform. When I think I'm not doing that, I hope no one has to tell me. I will pack it in. I think I can compete for another four or five years. Whatever comes first, five years or 5,000 wins."

For the moment, there's no reason for Black to even contemplate retirement.

Through the first two weeks of the Delaware meet, he ranks fourth with 12 wins. Last year, he was the leading rider through the first two months of the season before winding up sixth.

Black, who began riding in 1970 at Liberty Bell Park in Pennsylvania, credits his long-time Philadelphia Park connections for his good start at Delaware this spring.

"Most of the races we have won have been Philly Park shippers," Black said. "It just shows you those horses are competing real well here. If you look at the results every day, they are able to compete at similar levels to what they are competing at Philly except for a whole lot more money."

Political Attack regroups

If he runs, Political Attack, considered a Triple Crown candidate earlier in the year, should be favored in a field of 10 3-year-olds in Saturday's feature, the $75,000 Francis "Jock" LaBelle Stakes at a mile and 70 yards.

He is cross-entered in the Woodlawn, a $100,000 race on the grass at Pimlico.

Political Attack looked like he might be one of the best 3-year-olds based in Florida when he won the Grade 3 Tropical Park Derby on New Year's Day, earning a 95 Beyer Speed Figure. But he wasn't able to build any momentum when further tested, finishing fourth in the Fountain of Youth, and third, four lengths behind Preakness starter Equality in the Tampa Bay Derby.

Trainer John Fisher tried Political Attack on the turf last time and he ran third, beaten fourth lengths, in the Transylvania at Keeneland.

The main threats to Political Attack in the LaBelle look like The Sewickley Kid and Outstander.

The Sewickley Kid, trained by Graham Motion, most recently ran fourth in the 1 1/8-mile Federico Tesio Stakes at Pimlico, earning a 96 Beyer. Outstander went wire to wire in a seven-furlongs minor stakes at Laurel Park, but stopped badly after setting the early pace in the Arkansas Derby.

- According to trainer Mike Petro, Stormin Oedy, the 4 1/4-length winner of last Saturday's Damitrius Stakes, will make his next start in either the $100,000 Wilmington Handicap on June 15 or the James B. Moseley Breeders' Cup, a $150,000 stakes on the Massachusetts Handicap undercard at Suffolk Downs on June 1.