McCready powers to victory in Kent; Miss Fulton Gal takes Christiana

McCready relished both the wet going and the distance Saturday when he powered to a 2 1/2-length win over Kravitz in the $150,000 Kent at Delaware Park. 

It was another neck back in third to Chambersville.

The Kent and the co-featured $150,000 Christiana for fillies were both moved from the turf to a sloppy, sealed track. The races were for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles. Miss Fulton Gal ($17.20) accounted for the Christiana.

McCready ($16.80) trailed the field in the early stages as his stablemate Just Jo Jo took the field through fractions of 23.88 seconds for the opening quarter, 48.86 for the half-mile and 1:14.03 for six furlongs. McCready advanced three wide on the final turn, burst to the lead in the stretch, and finished with good energy to cover the distance in 1:53.50.

Carol Cedeno was aboard for Novogratz Racing Stable and trainer Mac Robertson.

“This is an incredible win for me,” Cedeno told track publicity at Delaware Park. “This is my home track and I live in the area, so to get a victory here like this is especially nice. The horse got the job done, though. He was super.

:: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now.

“When I watched the replays of his prior races, I noticed he breaks good, but not good enough to go right to the lead, so today I was planning to be patient and to get him to relax. He got relaxed and when I got to the five-eighths pole I knew I had a lot of horse. When we got to the three-eighths pole, he took off and I knew we had it.” 

McCready is a son of Practical Joke who was making his dirt debut in the Kent. He came into the race off an entry-level allowance win over 1 3/16 miles at Keeneland.

Turf Star and Zeppelin were scratched from the Kent.

McCready won his career debut last fall at Delaware Park and was winning his first stakes race in the Kent.

Christiana Stakes

Miss Fulton Gal picked up the second stakes win of her career when she drove to a 2 1/4-length win over Soloist in the Christiana. It was another seven lengths back in third to Making Daisys. 

Miss Fulton Gal was content to let the pace go as Soloist and War Belle disputed fractions of 22.79 seconds for the opening quarter and 46.53 for the half-mile. Soloist continued on through six furlongs in 1:12.08 as Miss Fulton Gal advanced, overtook the leader and covered the distance in 1:54.10.

Raul Mena was aboard for trainer Michael Gorham.

Miss Fulton Gal is a daughter of Rock Your World who races for the partnership of Trott Racing Stable, Five Sisters Farm and John Polizos.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.