Regaled should get another wet track for Delaware Handicap repeat try
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In her third start for Whit Beckman last year, Regaled romped home by 6 1/4 lengths in the Grade 3 Delaware Handicap, relishing the muddy track in a breakout victory. The 5-year-old mare will return to Delaware Park on Saturday as a contender in this year’s edition, and rain is again in the forecast.
“It’s a prestigious race and it’s good money, just one of those things where we’re happy to be a part of it,” Beckman said. “We were fortunate to have won it last year. She does need a little bit of pace, but I think there, if anywhere, it doesn’t seem like it’s as important.”
Though Regaled has not won a race since her last trip to Delaware, she has undoubtedly put together a tidy résumé in her last six starts. In November, she went off at 30-1 in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff and rallied for a distant third behind Scylla, finishing just a half-length behind Nitrogen.
Though she has not been quite as competitive in two races on fast tracks this year, the mare caught sloppy tracks and fared much better in the Grade 2 Azeri in March and Grade 2 Fleur de Lis in June, finishing second by three-quarters of a length in both starts. She comes back to Delaware off a three-month layoff and is 1 for 2 on a wet track over Saturday’s 1 1/8-mile distance.
“She does like a wet track, and I thought her early part of the year was good, and then we just decided to give her a little layoff until the Del Cap, rather than bang heads with them all year,” Beckman said.
Beckman also entered Angel Bella, who will scratch and run in an allowance at Churchill Downs on Saturday, shortening the field to 10 fillies and mares.
Two fillies in this year’s Delaware Handicap are coming out of the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch at Del Mar, though they achieved vastly different results on the West Coast.
Eunomia, who was making her first start off a nearly three-month break, pressed the pace in a three-way duel that day and dug in to score a 12-1 upset in her Grade 1 debut. That breakthrough could make her the favorite Saturday.
Chasten, the 6 1/4-length winner of the $150,000 Obeah at Delaware in June, went off as the 9-2 third choice at Del Mar for Brad Cox, but she never seriously challenged and finished sixth.
“That didn’t work out,” Cox said. “She handled Delaware in the Obeah. She’s handled shipping before, just for whatever reason, Del Mar was not her thing. She’s trained well since, so I was really happy with her last breeze at Churchill. I’m confident we’ll see a better version of her than we did in California.”
Cox also entered Margie’s Intention, who finished second in the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks in June 2025. She most recently finished fifth in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign at Saratoga, her second finish outside the money in 12 career starts.
Nerazurri, a consistent filly trained by Mark Casse, also is coming out of the Personal Ensign, having finished a similarly distant third behind Fully Subscribed. She came closest to a graded stakes victory in February, when she finished 2 3/4 lengths behind Nitrogen in the Grade 3 Bayakoa.
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