Hyper Piper returns to her happy place in Owner Appreciation Distaff

Hyper Piper will be looking for her third win of the Delta Downs meet on Friday night, when she starts as one of the top contenders in the $75,000 Owner Appreciation Distaff.

The mile race for fillies and mares who have started at the meet is one of two stakes on the penultimate card of the season. The other is the $80,000 Azalea, which is for 3-year-old fillies bred in Louisiana.

Hyper Piper has made three starts at the meet, with her first a win in an allowance over 7 1/2 furlongs on Nov. 17. She then captured the $65,000 Lookout at a mile on Jan. 5 before finishing second in the $145,000 Premier Night Distaff on Feb. 10. Hyper Piper will once again be invading from her base of Fair Grounds.

“She really seems to run good over that Delta track, the surface over there, and it’s been pretty kind on her, so we’re coming back into it good,” trainer Sam David Jr. said. “She ought to run a good race for us. She’s trained real well since the last one over there. This was a natural spot.”

Hyper Piper is part of a nine-horse field that includes Mr. Al’s Gal, a multiple stakes winner who gets the services of leading rider Diego Saenz; and Vieja Luna, winner of last year’s Owner Appreciation Distaff.

Hyper Piper has shown versatility in her Delta races, closing from well off the pace in the allowance and racing close to the lead in the Lookout and when beaten two lengths by the late-running Pacific Pink in the Premier Night Distaff.

“We had a hard time holding her off,” David said. “We kind of laid a little closer than normal, got by Mr. Al’s Gal, and then there comes Pacific Pink and runs us down. We’re real proud of [Hyper Piper]. It was a game effort. We didn’t want to let anybody steal the race. This race, it looks like it will set up good for her pace-wise.”

Tim Thornton has the mount on Hyper Piper, a daughter of Old Fashioned who races for her breeders, John Duvieilh and Keith and Earl Hernandez.

The Azalea, a 6 1/2-furlong race run around two turns, is for nonwinners of a stakes. The likely favorite is Sarah’s Holy Belle, who has run second in a trio of stakes, her most recent the $120,000 Premier Night Starlet on Feb. 10 at Delta.

◗ Stall applications for the upcoming Louisiana Downs meet are due Saturday. The 84-date meet runs from May 5 through Sept. 26.