Eres Tu razor sharp for Royal Delta

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Eres Tu does not translate to “perfection,” but Arnaud Delacour might argue otherwise. The mare named Eres Tu has gone 3 for 3 since coming into Delacour’s care.

“She has been very consistent for us,” Delacour said in understatement.

Now comes the most difficult assignment Eres Tu has faced since she resurfaced last fall after being away more than a year and a half. She’ll go for a second straight Grade 3 triumph when facing seven other fillies and mares Saturday at Gulfstream Park in the 30th running of the $100,000 Royal Delta.

Eres Tu, bred and owned by Ed Seltzer and Beverly Anderson, will break from post 3 and has Mrs. Danvers as her most dangerous foe in the 1 1/16-mile Royal Delta, the 11th of 12 races on a Saturday card that starts at 12:10 p.m. Eastern. Post time for the feature is 5:16 p.m.

Eres Tu, now 5, raced six times at 2 and 3, winning once while also faring respectably in high-class company. Forced to the sidelines in the spring of 2019, she returned last fall at Keeneland with an allowance win, which was followed in relatively short order by victories in back-to-back stakes at Laurel Park, ending with the Grade 3 Allaire DuPont in late December.

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Sent to Ocala, Fla., following the DuPont, Eres Tu has trained more recently at Tampa Bay Downs, where she blew out for the Royal Delta with a half-mile breeze Tuesday in 49.40 seconds.

“The Gulfstream track is an unknown for us,” said Delacour, “but she has been training well and I am happy with how she is coming up to this.”

Delacour has given the riding assignment on Eres Tu to Irad Ortiz Jr., the three-time reigning Eclipse Award-winning jockey who continues to win races in bunches. Ortiz rode five more winners here Wednesday to further extend his lead atop the Gulfstream championship-meet standings.

Ortiz’s brother Jose will be aboard Mrs. Danvers when the gray Tapit filly breaks from post 7. Mrs. Danvers ended 2020 on a very high note, winning the Grade 3 Comely at Aqueduct in late November by 6 1/4 lengths when earning a 102 Beyer Speed Figure, easily tops in this field.

“We’re looking forward to getting her started back,” said Shug McGaughey, who trains 4-year-old Mrs. Danvers for owner-breeder Joe Allen. “She’s really trained well up at Payson Park,” with a series of five works culminating last Saturday with a half-mile breeze in 48.80 seconds.

There’s further depth to the Royal Delta besides the two likely favorites. Saffie Joseph Jr. will send out the uncoupled pair of Gibberish (post 2, Tyler Gaffalione) and Queen Nekia (post 5, Corey Lanerie) after the two got very well acquainted with each other in recent morning works.

“They breezed together their last four or five times, and they’ve both done really well,” said Joseph. “I would say they’re both going to run their best, maybe even better than they ever have. Whether that’ll be good enough, we’ll see.”

Completing the lineup are High Regard, Dream Marie, Bajan Girl, and Hallawallah. Of those, maybe High Regard (post 1, Javier Castellano) rates the best upset chance when she makes her first start since a late November allowance win in Kentucky.

All eight starters are regular Lasix users, but none will be treated with the bleeder medication. Gulfstream has banned Lasix in all stakes, effective Jan. 1.

The Royal Delta is named for the three-time Eclipse champion (2011-12-13) who died unexpectedly in February 2017. This race was renamed in her honor in 2015 after being known as the Sabin for its first 24 runnings. McGaughey actually won the first running in 1991 with Fit for a Queen.

The Royal Delta is part of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 (races 7-12), which was expected to offer a guaranteed pool of about $600,000, assuming the jackpot was not emptied Thursday or Friday by a solo winning ticket. The Rainbow 6 began anew Sunday after being forced out last Saturday.

Two allowances (races 6 and 10) and a maiden-special route for 3-year-olds (race 8) are part of a solid Saturday undercard. Six of the 12 races are carded for the turf, which likely will be firm or close to it, given a continuing trend of dry conditions in South Florida.

Next Saturday at Gulfstream will be one of the biggest days of the four-month meet, with the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth being one of nine graded stakes on a blockbuster card.