Good Feng Shui brings consistency to New Castle Stakes

As a rule of thumb, trainer Mike Pino doesn’t like to reclaim a horse. He made an exception this summer for the consistent 6-year-old gelding Good Feng Shui.

After putting up $16,000 to claim Good Feng Shui in April at Parx Racing and losing him for $15,000 just two starts later, Pino spent $22,000 to reacquire the veteran sprinter in July, with a goal of giving the horse a shot at a restricted stakes.

Good Feng Shui, a 10-time winner in 31 starts, will make his stakes debut in the New Castle, one of four $75,000 stakes for Delaware-certified horses on Saturday’s 22nd annual Owners’ Day program at Delaware Park.

There are also two other $75,000 stakes, the Governor’s Day and the George Rosenberger Memorial, restricted to horses who have started in a non-stakes race this season at Delaware.

Good Feng Shui fits well among eight horses in the six-furlong New Castle, which goes as the 11th of 12 races on a card with cumulative purses of almost $600,000.

“I do not claim a horse back very often,” Pino said. “I claimed him at Parx thinking we would try him on the grass and at Delaware Park because he is Delaware-certified. We put him in for about the same price for what we took him for. He ran a big race, and we lost him. He was sharp and getting good, so we decided to go back and get him. I rarely go back and claim a horse like that. You have to really like one.”

Pino said he also changed his mind about whether Good Feng Shui prefers one surface over another.

“In his last, he ran really well on the dirt,” Pino said. “Before that, I thought the turf may have made him a little better, but now I am thinking he is just good regardless of surface.”

New Castle, race 11

KEY CONTENDERS

Good Feng Shui (Last 3 Beyers: 85-89-91)

◗ Claimed four times since March, he brings a three-racing winning streak into his first stakes appearance. Has figured in the exacta in seven of eight starts this season.

Awesome Devine (Last 3 Beyers: 85-76-59)

◗ Lightly raced 4-year-old, 3 for 5 lifetime, has raced just twice this season, winning a second-level optional $16,000 claimer last time out.

Always Smiling (Last 3 Beyers: 88-77-88)

◗ Horse for the course has been no worse than second in seven of nine starts locally, including wins in two of his last three races.

Debt Ceiling (Last 3 Beyers: 74-93-61)

◗ Adds blinkers for high-percentage trainer John Robb. Two previous starts at Delaware produced a career-high 93 Beyer and a win in last year’s First State Dash for 2-year-olds.

Delaware Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association Governor's Day, race 5

Stormin Monarcho, whose 2-for-2 record at Delaware this season includes a track-record performance going a flat mile, faces Tappintovictory, a winner of three straight by a combined 18 1/2 lengths, in the Delaware Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association Governor’s Day at a mile and 70 yards.

KEY CONTENDERS

Managed Account (Last 3 Beyers: 80-85-79)

◗ Won this race by a head as the 2-1 favorite last year, but is in the midst of an 0-for-9 campaign. In his most recent start locally in June, he came within two points of matching his career-best Beyer Speed Figure, earning a 92 for his runner-up finish in an off-the-turf allowance.

Stormin Monarcho (Last 3 Beyers: 96-101-81)

◗ Dominant in his two starts at Delaware, winning by a combined margin of 19 1/2 lengths with Beyers of 107 and 103. Will be coming back just eight days after he was fourth of five in the opening-day Left Bank at Belmont Park.

Tappintovictory (Last 3 Beyers: 94-89-95)

◗ Trainer John Rigattieri has won with 40 percent of his starters this meet (10 for 25), including two easy wins by this 7-year-old gelding. Gets a class test after crushing second-level optional $25,000 claimers at Timonium.

Picko's Pride (Last 3 Beyers: 84-92-83)

◗ Although he's primarily a sprinter, the 6-year-old Picko's Pride finished second in the one-mile Eight Thirty Stakes at Delaware two years ago and is trained by Mac Robertson, who is 6 for 24 (25 percent) with dirt runners stretching from sprints to routes following a break of 31 to 60 days. Live longshot breaking from the rail at 10-1 on the morning line.

George Rosenberger Memorial (race 9)

Gathering, last of five as the 1-2 favorite in her Delaware debut after two good performances in third-level high-priced optional claimers this summer in New York, and Tippie Tap, fourth as the 2-1 favorite in this same race last year, are among the contenders in the George Rosenberger Memorial for fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles on turf.

KEY CONTENDERS

Bryan's Jewel (Last 3 Beyers: 82-83-79)

◗ Grade 3 winner on dirt last season is 0 for 8 in 2014, but showed signs of life when she was switched to turf and rallied to miss by a length going 7 1/2 furlongs on Aug. 27. Dangerous if she moves forward making second start of her form cycle.

Tippie Tap (Last 3 Beyers: 84-79-74)

◗ Uncoupled stablemate of Bryan's Jewel, this mare won first time off a $25,000 claim on Aug. 27. Owns a 4-for-9 record on Delaware's turf course and was beaten 2 3/4 lengths as the 2-1 favorite in this race last year.

Gathering (Last 3 Beyers: 79-85-87)

◗ Became eligible for this stakes by finishing behind Bryan's Jewel and Tippie Tap as the 1-2 favorite on Aug. 27. Part of coupled entry for high-profile connections of trainer Jonathan Sheppard and Augustin Stable with Daylight Ride, who was third in that same 7 1/2-furlong race in late August. Group 3 stakes-placed in Britian two years ago.

Tax Free Shopping Distaff (race 7)

Galiana, the winner of the $107,000 Sweet and Sassy Stakes in July, will be a strong favorite in the six-furlong Tax Free Shopping Distaff for fillies and mares.

KEY CONTENDERS

Galiana (Last 3 Beyers: 65-81-91)

◗ Returns to sprinting on dirt, where she owns a 5-for-6 record at Delaware, including this same race at 9-1 last year, following lackluster effort as the 3-5 favorite in a $7,500 starter allowance on turf.

Stormin Wendy (Last 3 Beyers: 66-74-77)

◗ This 3-year-old merits respect coming from the barn of John Robb, who is winning at a 37 percent clip (7 for 19) at Delaware this season. Defeated older horses locally in June, but that was a conditioned claiming event.

Steady N Love (Last 3 Beyers: 62-59-64)

◗ Stakes winner going a one-turn mile at Laurel in March will be making her first start since April. Only sprint win came against maidens last November at Laurel.

In the other stakes:

◗ Cinco Charlie, the winner of the Grade 3 Bashford Manor at Churchill Downs and third in the Grade 3 Sanford at Saratoga, should dominate the 5 1/2-furlong First State Dash for 2-year-olds.

◗ Linda’s Lollipop is the lone two-time winner among seven 2-year-old fillies going 5 1/2 furlongs in the Small Wonder.