Fair Grounds: Hard to tell if Delaunay is rusty or ready for Gaudin
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
One year ago, when he won the F.W. Gaudin Memorial Handicap by more than four lengths over Gantry, Delaunay might have been the top sprinter in the country.
His 110 Beyer Speed Figure in the Gaudin equaled the highest six-furlong number in North America during 2013, and, more definitively, Delaunay went on to win the $145,000 Duncan Kenner at Fair Grounds and the Grade 2 Churchill Downs Handicap by margins similar to his Gaudin score.
Back to defend his Gaudin title, Delaunay resides in a much different place now. He lost his sharpest edge finishing second in the Iowa Sprint last June and was fourth Aug. 4 in the Grade 1 Vanderbilt at Saratoga. Delaunay has not raced since, and his return alone makes the $60,000 Gaudin, race 9 of 11 on the Saturday card at Fair Grounds, worth watching.
“He seems to be himself,” said Tom Amoss, who trains Delaunay for owner Maggie Moss. “We’ve had enough time to prepare him, and we think he’s fit enough. We’ll see Saturday. I don’t know what to expect. He’s doing things right, but as much anybody I’m anxious to see if he’s the same horse.”
There are just six entrants in the six-furlong Gaudin, with Delaunay and Rosie Napravnik the 6-5 morning-line favorite. The draw was not kind to the comebacker: A front-running type, Delaunay drew the rail with speed stacked up outside him.
“I’d much rather be outside looking in,” Amoss said. “It’s just going to be left in Rosie’s hands.”
At his peak, Delaunay established his superiority over regular rival Gantry, beating him convincingly in all four of their meetings. But Gantry, 7-5 on the Gaudin line, is the horse with good recent form and a favorable outside draw, and his neck win over Central Banker in the Thanksgiving Handicap took on added luster when Central Banker returned with a good second to talented Shakin It Up in the Grade 1 Malibu.
Dig a little deeper, and the Gaudin even starts to look like more than a two-horse showdown. Say No More has spent most of his 22-race career on turf and Polytrack, but he appears to be a superior dirt horse, and after a pair of sharp recent works gets his first shot on the Fair Grounds main track. Marchman, drawn in post 3, has blazing early speed and figures to lead or press Delaunay. If those two go early, with Gantry and Say No More hot on their heels, Channel Marker, and even the field’s outsider, Hip Four Sixtynine – a one-run sprinter with upside – could have say in this year’s Gaudin.