Dalika figures one to catch in Robert Dick Memorial
Dalika likes things her own way.
“We’ve learned over the years she’s headstrong and we’ve tried to wrangle her a little bit, and that doesn’t work,” trainer Al Stall Jr. said about his entrant in Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Robert G. Dick Memorial for fillies and mares traveling 1 3/8 miles at Delaware Park.
Case in point, Dalika’s last race. She opened a 15-length lead in the Keertana only to be run down by Temple City Terror.
“It obviously wasn’t by design,” Stall said. “We didn’t fight her, and she got a little serious, she enjoyed her freedom. She’ll run as hard as she can for as far as she can. And the older she got, the more she just wants to go on with it.”
Stall was surprised with how well Dalika recovered from that grueling effort.
“I thought she was going to be out of the box for a long time, but she didn’t even blink an eye,” he said. “She was great the next morning, and it actually looks like she’s put on weight.”
Dalika might have company on the lead in the form of Candy Flower.
“She’s run well off of a horse, so I am hoping, maybe hoping against hope, that she will be more tranquil the first part of the race,” Stall said.
Trainer Mike Stidham is excited to get Micheline, a Godolphin homebred by Bernardini, back out to longer distances.
“We’re coming back a little closer than I normally do – three weeks from the Eatontown – and the reason is the distance,” Stidham said. “We need to get her back to the longer distance.”
Micheline finished 10th in the Eatontown.
“She got bounced around going around the first turn, shuffled back, and could never get into that comfortable stride,” Stidham said.
Blame Debbie received a beautiful ride from Victor Carrasco to win the Searching Stakes on June 13 at Pimlico. Making her first start of the year at a demanding 1 1/2 miles over wet turf, Blame Debbie set trotting-horse fractions before sprinting on home. She is equally adept from off the pace. Trainer Graham Motion, an eight-time winner of this race, mentioned Blame Debbie “had a relatively easy race, so that’s why I don’t mind running back so quickly.”
Luck Money, second in the Searching, also made her seasonal debut in that race and might have been adversely affected by the slow race flow.
“There was not a lot of pace, and Blame Debbie was unpressured,” trainer Arnaud Delacour said. “I knew she was probably a breeze or two short.”
Delacour expects improvement.
“She had a very good work last weekend with Magic Attitude, and she did very well,” he said. Magic Attitude won the Belmont Oaks in 2020.
Temple City Terror powered past Dalika to win the Keertana. It was Temple City Terror’s first try at a marathon trip, and trainer Brendan Walsh believes that “hopefully we’ve found her right distance. She’s a much nicer filly this year than she ever was.”
Motion also entered longshot Tonal Verse, fresh off victories on both turf and dirt.
“Originally, I had the idea of running her as a main track only,” Motion said. “The more I think about it, it makes sense to take a shot. I think this is something she wants to do.”
Hotsy Totsy and La Dragontea complete the lineup.
Dashing Beauty
Sometimes the sequel fails to measure up to the original, but the rematch between undefeated Chub Wagon and talented Hello Beautiful looks like box-office magic. They renew their feud in the $100,000 Dashing Beauty for fillies and mares at six furlongs.
They locked horns in last month’s Shine Again and put on a show. Hello Beautiful scooted to a clear lead but was confronted by Chub Wagon at the three-sixteenths pole. From there, they duked it out, with Chub Wagon prevailing by a neck.
Chub Wagon was considered for last Saturday’s Grade 2 Princess Rooney, but trainer Guadalupe Preciado told Daily Racing Form on June 23 that “we had a little problem with her blood, and she started to get a little sick. She never got a fever, but she got a little infection.”
Chub Wagon worked a half-mile in 47 seconds on June 30 at Parx Racing and projects to sit in closest attendance to Hello Beautiful once again.
Multiple stakes winner Hello Beautiful ran a big race in the Shine Again, considering it was her first start since Feb. 20. The last time she ran second off a layoff, she won by 8 1/4 lengths with a 94 Beyer Speed Figure.
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Anna’s Bandit was no match for the top two in the Shine Again, but the 17-time winner likely needed the race, according to trainer Jerry Robb.
Grade 3-placed Euphoric, stakes-placed Paisley Singing, Glory Dia, and Ava’s Charm round out the field.
◗ Grade 3 winner Phat Man and Grade 3-placed Galerio head a salty field of older horses in the $50,000 Battery Park at 1 1/16 miles. Phat Man stretches out in distance after facing graded foes in his last two. Galerio has hit the board in his last 16 starts.
Magic Michael, on a three-race win streak for Jamie Ness, and stakes-placed performers Dixie Drawl and Deal Driven also should contend.