Elate, Unbridled Mo top nine in Del Cap

The complexion of the $750,000 Delaware Handicap changed over the weekend when Bob Baffert decided not to send Abel Tasman cross-country for the 1 1/4-mile race for fillies and mares. The Del Cap instantly went from a small field with a heavy favorite to a larger, more wide-open affair.

Grade 1 winners Elate and Unbridled Mo should vie for favoritism in Saturday’s nine-horse Del Cap when they break from posts 6 and 5, respectively.

The Del Cap has been downgraded to a Grade 2 after five years as a Grade 1. Its recent winners include two-time champion Songbird (2017); the three-time Grade 1 winners I’m a Chatterbox (2016) and Sheer Drama (2015); Belle Gallantey, who upset 1-5 Princess of Sylmar; and three-time champion Royal Delta (2012-2013).

The Saturday undercard also includes the Grade 3, $200,000 Kent, $75,000 Hockessin, and $75,000 Carl Hanford Memorial.

Bill Mott, who trained Royal Delta, will send Elate in from his Saratoga stable. Last year at 3, she defeated older rivals by 8 1/4 lengths in the Grade 1 Beldame Invitational and drilled her contemporaries by 5 1/2 lengths in the Grade 1 Alabama going 1 1/4 miles.

The Del Cap will be Elate’s first start since she finished fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Her training over the winter was compromised by a splint bone issue.

Jose Ortiz will be in to ride Elate, who has been weighted at 117 pounds.

Unbridled Mo, trained by Todd Pletcher, scored her most important victory in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park, upsetting Unique Bella by 2 1/4 lengths. Unbridled Mo obviously ran very well that day, but Unique Bella got left at the start and then was rank early.

In her most recent start, Unbridled Mo finished third, beaten nine lengths by Abel Tasman, in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park. Unbridled Mo is the 120-pound highweight in the Del Cap and will have John Velazquez in the saddle.

The speedy Farrell comes into the race off a runner-up effort in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis Handicap at Churchill Downs. Trained by Wayne Catalano, the four-time Grade 2 winner will carry 118 from post 7.

Owner Ron Paolucci has entered the trio of Fuhriously Kissed (post 9), Proper Discretion (post 4), and Nikki My Darling (post 8). The deep closer Fuhriously Kissed has finished third in both the Fleur de Lis and Apple Blossom since Paolucci claimed her for $62,500 in March at Gulfstream Park.

The lineup also includes Teresa Z (post 1), Sneaky Betty (post 2), and Mopotism (post 3).