Delaware: Delaunay tries Hockessin off career-best win

Delaunay will attempt to win his second consecutive stakes when he runs in the $60,000 Stonewall Farm Ocala Hockessin at Delaware Park on Saturday afternoon. The Hockessin has a field of nine, including an entry.

A 5-year-old gelding trained by Tom Amoss, Delaunay earned a career-best 97 Beyer when he won the Kelly’s Landing at Churchill on June 23. Before that he won a 40,000 claiming event at Churchill on May 12, a race from which Amoss claimed Delaunay.

The rallying style Delaunay has displayed in his last two events should suit him well in a speedy field of older sprinters going six furlongs. Abel Castellano will ride.

It’s Never Too Late has won 6 of 15 local starts and appears to be one of the speed horses Delaunay will be chasing. A 7-year-old gelding, It’s Never Too Late led from start to finish in his last out July 16 in an optional claiming event, earning a career-best 98 Beyer.

J J’s Lucky Train will be making his second start off a layoff in the Hockessin after a sixth-place finish in the Mr Prospector at Monmouth on July 8. As a 3-year-old last season, he won the Miracle Wood at Laurel and the Grade 3 Bay Shore at Aqueduct before finishing third in the Grade 3 Derby Trial, second in the Grade 2 Woody Stephens, and fourth in the Grade 1 Haskell. Elvis Trujillo will ride.