Upset brewing in Jock LaBelle

The possibility Go Go Shoot is a vulnerable short-priced favorite and the perception Loveyouintheworld is running on the wrong surface at far shorter than his preferred distance could produce a situation that's ripe for an upset in Saturday's feature race at Delaware Park.

On paper, the New York shipper Go Go Shoot appears formidable in the $75,000 Francis "Jock" LaBelle Memorial, and Loveyouintheworld looks like he's simply using the six-furlong dirt sprint as a prep for a longer race on grass somewhere down the line.

But there are reasons to believe Go Go Shoot will be overbet and Loveyouintheworld will be prime upset material.

Go Go Shoot, the 122-pound highweight, is the lone stakes winner in a field of six 3-year-olds. He dominated back-to-back sprint stakes over Aqueduct's inner track during the winter, then flashed speed and faded in the Grade 3 Bay Shore in his most recent start three weeks ago.

Logically, the drop into a non-graded stakes for the second start of his form cycle should indicate Go Go Shoot is primed to move forward. The statistics, however, don't support that theory. Trainer Jim Ryerson is 2 for 52 with dirt sprinters making their second start off a layoff, including an 0-for-5 record in non-graded stakes.

Loveyouintheworld hasn't been out since finishing a well-beaten sixth by Kentucky Derby prospect Cowboy Cal in the Laurel Futurity last November. Four of his six starts have come on turf and each of his last three races has been at a mile or longer.

But as a 2-year-old, Loveyouinthe-world twice won sprinting, and his trainer, Hamilton Smith, is 4 for his last 17 (24 percent) with a profitable $2.71 return on investment with horses returning in dirt sprints following layoffs of between 61 and 180 days.

That could make Loveyouinthe-world the value play in Saturday's LaBelle.

The other horse who deserves strong consideration, especially if a forecast for thunderstorms turns the track sloppy or muddy, is Bang Bang Bang. Based in New York with trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, Bang Bang Bang has won back-to-back races, including a three-length score in the slop last time out on March 8.