Miss Singhsix must earn Del Cap berth

Swift Temper did not have the benefit of a race over the local track when Florida-based trainer Marty Wolfson brought her to Delaware Park last year, and she finished second at 5-2 in the Delaware Handicap. Aware that his 5-year-old mare Miss Singhsix needs every advantage she can get, Wolfson will give her a chance to get a feel for the surface this weekend, when she auditions for next month's premier race of Delaware Park's season.

Miss Singhsix, whose best performances against graded stakes competition have been thirds in her two most recent starts, is facing a must-win situation in Saturday's Grade 3, $150,000 Obeah, Wolfson said. The 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares is the last local prep for the Grade 2, $750,000 Delaware Handicap at 1 1/4 miles July 17.

Miss Singhsix's stablemate Jessica Is Back was listed as the track's morning-line favorite for the Obeah, but Wolfson said she will go to Churchill Downs, where she will be among four challengers to 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra in Saturday's Fleur de Lis.

Wolfson said he is hopeful Miss Singhsix will prove she deserves a spot in the Del Cap lineup.

"She would probably have to win," Wolfson said of Miss Singhsix, whose lone stakes victory in 13 attempts came in the Maryland Racing Media at Laurel Park in February. "Miss Singhsix is really going to have to run huge to run her in the Delaware Handicap because that race always comes up tough. But, at Delaware, having a race over the track really helps."

Wolfson said he feels the Obeah could set up favorably for Miss Singhsix's closing kick. She didn't get sufficient pace last time out when third in the Grade 3 Sixty Sails at Hawthorne.

"She could not make up enough ground on the slow pace," Wolfson said. "But I think there is enough speed in the Obeah to make her more effective."

The absence of Jessica Is Back enhances the chances of Taptam, Mindy Sue, and Morena.

Mindy Sue, a 4-year-old, is making her graded stakes debut after defeating Taptam by 1 3/4 lengths in the Winter Melody overnight stakes a month ago.

Two starts ago, Taptam, from the high-percentage barn of Bret Calhoun, finished second to Zenyatta in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park.

Morena, a 6-year-old Group 2 winner in her native Peru, is winless in seven starts - all in graded stakes - since coming to the United States. She was third behind Unrivaled Belle and Rachel Alexandra last time out in the Grade 2 La Troienne at Churchill Downs. Last year, Morena was second in the Obeah and fourth in the Del Cap.