No Parole will flaunt his speed in rescheduled Gold Cup

A Grade 1 winner, No Parole is one of the stars of the Louisiana breeding program, and on Saturday he’ll meet some of his home state’s top runners in the $100,000 Gold Cup at Delta Downs.

The field of nine includes Underpressure, who with a win would go over $900,000 in earnings; Grand Luwegee, winner of last year’s Louisiana Champions Day Classic at Fair Grounds; and Treys Midnite Moon, who is looking for career win No. 16.

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The Gold Cup, a seven-furlong race around two turns, is for 3-year-olds and up bred in Louisiana. It had originally been carded for Oct. 16, but track lighting issues forced the cancellation of that night program. The rescheduled race will be run on an afternoon card that has a special first post of 12:55 p.m. Central. It goes as the ninth of 11 races, with Delta tacking on additional races to its existing cards of late to make up for those lost to problems with the lighting system on Oct. 15-16.

No Parole became a Grade 1 winner in June 2020, when he won the Woody Stephens at Belmont Park. The race was run over seven furlongs, but at one turn. No Parole makes a rare start at two turns in the Gold Cup, and he looks like the one to catch Saturday.

“We are committed to making the lead,” said Tom Amoss, who trains No Parole for Maggi Moss and Greg Tramontin.

No Parole wired the field in the Woody Stephens. He’s done the same in his two starts at Delta, taking the $100,000 Louisiana Premier Night Prince at a mile in February 2020 and the $100,000 Louisiana Premier Night Sprint at five furlongs this past February.

No Parole was entered in the originally carded Gold Cup, and following its cancellation worked at Delta. He breezed a half-mile in 49 seconds, which was the third-fastest of 116 moves at the distance at the track on Oct. 16.

No Parole will be making his first start since April, when he set a quick pace and finished seventh behind C Z Rocket and champion Whitmore in the Grade 3, $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap at Oaklawn.

“If you look at his work pattern, he’s come back very, very well, and has trained very well,” Amoss said. “We’ve run in a Delta stakes off a layoff before, and it’s worked out.

“I think he likes that track quite a bit. The tight turns have worked to his strength, which is speed and athleticism on the turns.”

Diego Saenz has the mount from post 3.