Foggy Night shocks in Delaware Oaks
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Twelve minutes after trainer Butch Reid upset the Laurel Dash with Fore Harp, his Foggy Night took down the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks for 3-year-old fillies racing 1 1/16 miles at Delaware Park.
Foggy Night broke well from the inside post under Paco Lopez, then settled into a loose pocket as Opus Forty Two set splits of 24.14 and 47.98 seconds.
Grade 2-placed Miracle made her bid for the lead after six furlongs in 1:12.14, and she hooked up with Opus Forty Two in earnest inside the quarter pole.
Miracle poked a head in front at the three-sixteenths marker, but Lopez had Foggy Night in full gear with a three-wide sweep. Foggy Night passed both Miracle and Opus Forty Two, then got away from them despite hopping back to her left lead once she made the front.
At the wire, it was Foggy Night by 1 3/4 lengths over a resolute Opus Forty Two in 1:45.07 seconds. Miracle might have hung a bit to finish a nose behind the runner-up.
Then came odds-on favorite Fireline, Cover the Spread, Balpool, Fast Tracked, and Cats Inthe Timber. Cypto Mama and Promiseher America scratched.
Foggy Night returned $30.40 as the fourth choice in the wagering.
A filly by Khozan, Foggy Night was purchased for $20,000 as an OBS April 2-year-old by Pine Brook Farm. She raced five times last year including an 11 1/4-length maiden special weight victory at Parx on Oct. 19.
Eighteen days later, Foggy Night finished second in Aqueduct’s Tempted traveling a one-turn mile. She concluded her juvenile season with a sixth-place finish in the Grade 2 Demoiselle at Aqueduct on Dec. 3.
“She might have been tailing off a bit,” Reid said about the Demoiselle in a post-race interview conducted by Delaware Park. “She had a pretty solid 2-year-old campaign, and we don’t like to run much more than that as 2-year-olds anyway.”
Foggy Night was likely best when a troubled second in her first start this year, an allowance race at Parx on April 24. She was a very visually impressive six-length winner of an allowance going seven-eighths there on June 5, her final start prior to the Delaware Oaks.
“She really matured over the winter,” Reid said. “It was a really nice move to give her a break over the winter time. She put on weight and improved physically. She’s a little better horse this year.”
Foggy Night was bred in Florida by Brent and Crystal Fernung and has won three of eight starts for earnings of $278,550.
Fireline sought her third consecutive victory and was the 9-10 favorite despite facing stakes company and racing around two turns for the first time. She settled in midpack while in between horses, but never looked very comfortable and failed to ever threaten for top honors.
Based year-round at Parx, Reid mentioned the Grade 1, $1,000,000 Cotillion Stakes there on Sept. 23 as a “dream down the road.”
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