Delaware: Willcox Inn slight favorite in 13-horse field for Kent

Willcox Inn, who won two of the three legs of the Mid-America Triple for 3-year-olds at Arlington Park, heads a lineup of 13 3-year-olds entered Tuesday for Saturday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Kent Stakes at Delaware Park.

The Chicago-based Willcox Inn, trained by Mike Stidham, registered daylight victories in the Arlington Classic and Grade 2 American Derby before finishing fourth last time out in the Grade 1 Secretariat. The 3-1 choice on the track’s morning line, he brings along regular rider Robby Albarado and will break from the far outside in post 13.

The Kent, scheduled for 1 1/8 miles on turf, also drew Jersey Derby winner Breathless Storm (5-1); Casino Host (12-1), who outran his 20-1 odds to finish third, beaten only a length, in the Grade 2 Virginia Derby; and King Congie (8-1), third, a mere head behind the winner, in the Grade 1 Blue Grass on Polytrack and third last time out in the Grade 3 Saranac at Saratoga.

Rush Now (12-1) and J W Blue (4-1), an uncoupled entry from trainer Tony Dutrow, are in the Kent lineup, although both are cross-entered in Saturday’s $1 million Pennsylvania Derby. Neither horse has raced on turf, but Dutrow said he would like to see what J W Blue, the third-place finisher in the Aug. 27 Travers, can do on the grass.

“He will either run in the Kent Stakes on the turf or in the Pennsylvania Derby,” Dutrow said. “He has not raced on the turf, but we have trained him on the turf. We feel that he likes the grass and that he is bred for it, so we want to give him an opportunity on the turf some day to see how he will handle it.”