Power Squeeze gets some class relief in Delaware Oaks

After facing division leader Thorpedo Anna in her last two starts, Power Squeeze, one of the more underrated 3-year-old fillies in the crop, gets some class relief in Monday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Delaware Oaks at 1 1/16 miles.

Trained by Jorge Delgado for Lea Farms, Power Squeeze reeled off four consecutive victories heading into the Kentucky Oaks, where she ran sixth racing wide over a sealed, sloppy track.

Power Squeeze then tried Thorpedo Anna again in Saratoga’s Grade 1 Acorn, and she rallied from last to finish a creditable third, 6 3/4 lengths behind the impressive winner.

“There was a lot of speed in the race. I had a beautiful post and it let me save all the ground and let it develop,” jockey Javier Castellano told NYRA publicity after the Acorn. “I’m really happy the way she did it.”

Castellano retains the mount on Power Squeeze, a maiden winner at Delaware last year.

The owner-trainer combination of Juddmonte and Bill Mott has had great success over the last two weeks as Batten Down and Scylla both earned graded stakes victories.

:: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets.

They’ll try again with the progressive Sidamara, an Arrogate filly out of Grade 1 winner Spring in the Air. Although she raced close to the lead in her debut, a runner-up effort going a one-turn mile at Gulfstream, Sidamara rallied from off the pace to capture her two subsequent starts in Kentucky.

“I think she took herself back,” trainer Bill Mott said. “She’s doing very well.”

Mystic Lake, the projected pacesetter, will not run in the Delaware Oaks after starting in Thursday’s Grade 3 Victory Ride in New York.

Call Another Play had a three-race win streak snapped when third in the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico, but trainer Michael Trombetta was pleased with the effort.

“She encountered just a little bit of trouble in the race,” Trombetta said. “There’s a possibility she could have done [even] better. She’s training well.”

With Mystic Lake out, Trombetta believes that Call Another Play “will be very much a part of the pace because the race doesn’t seem to have a lot of speed in it. As long as we handle the track okay, we’ll be fine.”

Ringy Dingy should be comfortable at Delaware having won the White Clay Creek here last fall. The full sister to multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire Defunded finished sixth in the Black-Eyed Susan, but that was her first start in more than five months.

“Last time I ran her, she needed the race,” trainer Danny Gargan said. “She was a little rank early. She’s doing really well. My filly’s fast. If we break running, we can be close.”

Princess Indy and Regaled finished second and fourth, respectively, in a second-level allowance on June 9 at Laurel. Princess Indy recovered quickly after an early stumble, then pressed the older favored winner before tiring in her first run of the year.

Regaled won her first two starts around two turns before passing tired horses in that Laurel event.

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