Drop Dead Red on upswing for Obeah Stakes

When the AJ Suited Racing Stable of Justin Nicholson claimed 6-year-old Drop Dead Red for $25,000 at Gulfstream Park in February the hope was she’d be competitive in the Virginia-bred stakes ranks at Colonial Downs this summer. She may better those expectations.

On Saturday at Delaware Park, Drop Dead Red will make her second start for Fair Hill-based horseman Tres Abbott in the $100,000 Obeah, a 1 1/8-mile stakes for fillies and mares. Drop Dead Red earned her way into the Obeah by scoring a six-length, ridden-out victory in a high-level optional claimer at Delaware on May 6. The win was her first since she notched her initial stakes victory in the Politely at Monmouth Park in May 2018.

Abbott said Drop Dead Red “has really benefited from being at Fair Hill” and that her improved performance is the result of him training her easier in the mornings.

“She trains herself very hard,” Abbott said. “We want her to enjoy her training and not be so hard on herself. We solely take her to the track to breeze. Otherwise, we take her out to the fields every day.”

Horsemen at Fair Hill have more options in how they train than their counterparts stabled at racetracks. In addition to having both dirt and Tapeta tracks, Fair Hill has turf runs, miles of trails and, yes, plenty of open fields.

Abbott worked Drop Dead Red a bullet half-mile on the dirt in preparation for the Obeah, but her day-to-day exercise routine typically involves less stressful endeavors.

“She goes out and gets ridden for an hour every day,” Abbott said. “Once we figured out how to make her happy, we just stuck with it.”

Another Broad, trained by Todd Pletcher, is the likely Obeah favorite. Pletcher believes the longer the race, the better it suits Another Broad. A good performance Saturday could earn Another Broad a return trip to Delaware for the Grade 2, $750,000 Delaware Handicap on July 13. The Del Cap is a 1 1/4-mile race.

Another Broad finished an even fourth in the Grade 3 Allaire duPont at Pimlico in her last race, but in April closed well to win the $200,000 Top Flight Invitational at Aqueduct. Both of those races came at the Obeah distance of nine furlongs.

Goodonehoney will be making her fourth start following a 10-month layoff. She turned in the best effort of her comeback in her most recent race, pulling away to beat three rivals in the Serena’s Song at Monmouth Park. She was disqualified from the win that day for coming inward slightly nearing the backstretch of the 1 1/16-mile race and bumping 3-5 favorite Forever Liesl.

If Goodonehoney can take another step forward for trainer Michael Moore, she will make her presence felt in the Obeah. Goodonehoney won her first two starts, both at Laurel Park, by a combined 11 3/4 lengths before finishing fifth at 3-1 in the 2018 Black-Eyed Susan and going to the sidelines.

The Obeah field is completed by Blue Union Rags, Gotham Gala, and Vente to Go.