Dean Delivers will skip Breeders' Cup Sprint and stay local

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Dean Delivers not only became a graded stakes winner when he captured the Grade 3 Smile Sprint here earlier this summer, he also earned a $30,000 credit toward entry fees for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita.

But as tempting as that incentive might be, trainer Michael Yates confirmed Friday that Dean Delivers will bypass the Breeders’ Cup and remain locally where his next objective would likely be the $100,000 Gil Campbell Memorial for Florida-breds going a mile here Oct. 21.

Dean Delivers certainly has the credentials to go to the BC Sprint. Not only did he win the Smile by a widening 2 1/4 lengths while matching his career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 99 in the process, he came back four weeks later to finish third behind reigning sprint champion Elite Power in the Grade 1 Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga.

Dean Delivers spent the month after the Vanderbilt on the Ocala farm of his owner-breeder Stonehedge LLC before rejoining Yates’s stable at Gulfstream Park in September. He had his third work since coming back to South Florida on Friday, breezing five furlongs in 1:01.20, his final quarter in 23.32 seconds while going easily throughout over a relatively quick racetrack.

“I talked it over with Mrs. Campbell [Marilyn] and the Stonehedge people and they just felt it was absolutely asking a lot of him to go to the Sprint even with the bonus he earned towards the expenses,” Yates said. “They reasoned that both horses who beat him in the Vanderbilt [Elite Power and Gunite] look like they could be running in the Sprint and there are several very good West Coast horses pointing in that direction as well.”

Yates said he was very pleased with the way Dean Delivers worked Friday and that he’d likely do a little more with him next week if he is going to stretch him back to a mile for his next start. Dean Delivers finished second, beaten a length by Clapton, after contesting the pace in the 2022 renewal of the Campbell, the longtime patriarch of Stonehedge and among the most prominent Florida owner-breeders until his passing two years ago.

Freedom Principle adds blinkers

A couple of maiden special weight races, one for 2-year-olds going a mile and 70 yards over the Tapeta course and a six-furlong dash for older fillies and mares, highlight Sunday’s nine-race program.

A field of 11 juveniles will try two turns in race 7, with Freedom Principle likely to go postward the favorite off a couple of second-place finishes under similar conditions to launch his career here during the summer. Trained by Jose Garoffalo, Freedom Principle will don blinkers for the first time Sunday.

Another who demands attention is Never Say Never, a son of Summer Front who was a $305,000 2-year-old purchase earlier this year. Never Say Never is a half-brother to the Grade 1-placed Going for Broke and figures to improve off a troubled sixth-place finish when making his debut over the main track three weeks earlier.

Teasing, a full sister to Belmont Stakes winner Tapwrit, will likely be heavily favored to win the second race, despite making just her second start since April 2022. Teasing has been idle since being beaten a nose by her Jose D’Angelo-trained stablemate Anatomy under similar conditions July 21.

Among the other key contenders is Street Charity, a $130,000 2-year-old purchase last season who has been working forwardly of late from the gate prepping for her debut for trainer Todd Pletcher.