Pay the Man tops DeBartolo

Pay the Man should be favored when she matches strides with 10 other Ohio-bred fillies and mares over 1 1/8 miles in the $75,000 Rose DeBartolo Memorial Stakes on Saturday at Thistledown.

Pay the Man, a 3-year-old daughter of Bernstein, proved that 1 1/8 miles is well within her racing scope by winning the Queen City Oaks at River Downs at the distance July 21. Prior to that, she finished second to the boys at the distance in the 14-horse Cleveland Gold Cup. She comes into this race off a mile breeze in 1:41.30 and it appears trainer Miguel Feliciano has her razor sharp.

Pay the Man will be coupled with Bright Pyrite and be ridden by Andrew Ramgeet.

Cryptoquip has made only three starts this year and was third in a 1o1/16-mile allowance at Delaware Park in her most recent race, on June 25. Before that, she won an allowance race going the same distance at Pimlico on June 7. This will be only her second start on her native soil.

In her first Ohio start, Cryptoquip won last year's 1 1/8-mile Queen City Oaks at River Downs by almost 12 lengths only for the race to be declared a no-contest when most of the starting gates refused to open. She proved her win in that race was not a fluke when she went on to win the Grade 3 Arlington Park Breeders' Cup Oaks in her next start. Cryptoquip is trained by Graham Motion and will be ridden by Dana Whitney.

Magg's Choice is a two-time stakes winner this year. She finished second behind Pay the Man in the Queen City Oaks. She is coupled with Littlebitabling in a Tim Hamm-trained entry.