Delgado wins Labor Day weekend stakes on two fronts

Trainer Jorge Delgado won a pair of stakes over Labor Day weekend and will attempt to keep the barn’s momentum going Friday with a pair of starters in overnight races at Gulfstream Park.

Delgado saddled the undefeated Awesome Strong to victory in the $200,000 Affirmed division of Florida Sire Stakes on Saturday, then made his way to Monmouth Park on Monday to send out Winfromwithin to capture the $102,000 Red Bank.

“It was a very good weekend,” said Delgado.

Delgado has divisions of his stable at Gulfstream and Monmouth and could soon branch out to New York.

“We’re strongly considering going to Aqueduct this winter,” he said. “It’s looking like it might happen. We’d have divisions in Florida and New York over the winter.”

Delgado, 32, is in the midst of his best year as a trainer. His stable has earned $2 million, eclipsing the barn’s best showing of $1.3 million in 2021. Delgado has won 54 races from 225 starts so far this year, putting him on pace to eclipse his personal mark of 63 wins from 275 starts achieved in 2021. He won his first race in 2017 at Gulfstream.

The 2-year-old Awesome Strong is leading the charge for Delgado. He has now won the first two legs of the Florida Sire Stakes at Gulfstream and will be looking for a sweep Oct. 1 when he starts in the $400,000 In Reality division over 1 1/16 miles.

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“For the last leg we have 25 days from now and I think that’s enough time to stretch out,” Delgado said Tuesday. “Hopefully, we can catch a smaller field this time.”

Awesome Strong won the Dr. Fager division over nine others Aug. 6. It was run at six furlongs. He came back and defeated 10 in the Affirmed, which was run over seven furlongs. For his three-length victory last weekend, Awesome Strong earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 80.

“I liked the way he sat behind two horses and was able to relax a little bit and passed them,” Delgado said of the Affirmed. “He’s still figuring it out and learning to run, so it was good he did that in the race and got the job done. He showed he’s not only a front-runner. He can come from mid-pack and get it done.”

Awesome Strong won his debut in May at Gulfstream. Following the race he was purchased privately by the Texas-based CSLR Racing Partners. Gulfstream leading rider Miguel Vasquez has been aboard Awesome Strong for all his starts. The horse is now 3 for 3.

“He came back very happy, showing all the signs I want to see in a horse after a race,” Delgado said. “He’s happy. He’s very healthy. He’s been eating good and resting. He’s a smart horse. He pretty much takes care of himself.”

Delgado said plans for Winfromwithin are to be determined. The horse earned a career-high Beyer Figure of 95 for his 1 1/4-length Red Bank victory.

“We got him in a [horses of racing age] sale,” Delgado said. “He runs a mile on the grass. He went gate to wire in the Red Bank. The time was really fast.”

Winfromwithin races for Lea Farms.

Delgado active Friday

Delgado’s action Friday at Gulfstream includes new claim Hrothgar in the seventh race, a $12,500 conditioned claiming route on Tapeta.

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In the fourth, he sends out Astonishing Anabel. The race is a starter allowance for 2-year-old fillies who have started for a claiming price of $25,000 or less, or there’s an option to start for a claiming price of $25,000. The class limitations for the six-furlong race were one reason it was targeted with the maiden Astonishing Anabel.

“Every race, she’s becoming more of a racehorse – she understands more of what she has to do,” Delgado said. “She’s taken big steps every time she runs. She had two races and we decided to go against winners. The $25,000 starter, on paper, it looks like she belongs.

“She’s still a maiden stepping up a little bit – all of the horses in the race have won. But I’m not going so much by the numbers. I’m going by the fact that I know my filly is really improving race to race.”

Astonishing Anabel is a daughter of Practical Joke. She was second in a maiden special weight over seven furlongs in her most recent start Aug. 12.

The seven-horse field is led by Le Boiana, who won a $25,000 maiden-claiming race in July at Gulfstream before running second in the $63,000 Sharp Susan on the track’s Tapeta in her most recent out Aug. 20.

Barboza pair heads feature

Trainer Victor Barboza Jr. has two leading contenders in the featured eighth race Friday.

Venezuelan Triumph and Cashier Check should both get good support in the first-level allowance for 3-year-olds and up at one mile and 70 yards on Tapeta.

Venezuelan Triumph won a route on Tapeta on July 9, then came back and was fourth in the $75,000 Bear’s Den on the same surface July 30. He could be sitting on a peak race in his third out since April. Kentucky Derby-winning rider Sonny Leon has the mount from post 5 in the field of eight Friday.

Cashier Check will break from the rail, one start after wiring the field in a Tapeta route Aug. 7. He is now 2 for 3 on Tapeta at Gulfstream.