Weekend Warrior for Saturday, June 16: Picks for Stephen Foster Handicap, Obeah Stakes, Regret Stakes

A memorable Triple Crown season may be over, but important racing continues Saturday with the Stephen Foster evening card at Churchill Downs. The Grade 1, $500,000 Foster tops a program that includes four other graded stakes, the most notable being two Grade 2, $200,000 races – the Fleur de Lis and the Wise Dan.

Santa Anita has the remaining graded event on Saturday’s stakes schedule – the Grade 2, $200,000 Summertime Oaks.

Stephen Foster Handicap

It’s probably foolish to pick against Backyard Heaven here, and it is certainly foolish to bet against him with any conviction. And to a lesser extent, you might say the same about Irish War Cry.

Backyard Heaven was most impressive winning the Alysheba last time over the track and has now posted two straight strong triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures. Meanwhile, Irish War Cry regained top form, most recently dominating the Pimlico Special, and let’s not forget he ran well last year winning the Wood Memorial and Holy Bull and finished second in the Belmont Stakes. However, Irish War Cry has not yet paired up top performances, and Backyard Heaven will be facing the toughest company he’s met to date.

I don’t know if Pavel will ever turn out to be the force he threatened to become last year when he was an excellent third in the Jockey Club Gold Cup in only his fourth career start and after being knocked around in the stretch. Maybe he’s been thrown to the wolves one too many times. But I’m going with him, anyway.

I do know that Pavel has consistently met stronger company than anyone else here, that he had no chance in the San Pasqual three back with the trip he got, that he may have raced against a track bias in the Dubai World Cup, and he had a license to need his most recent outing in the Gold Cup at Santa Anita.

Obeah Stakes

This is the feature at Delaware Park and is the local springboard to next month’s Delaware Handicap, which was mystifyingly downgraded this year from Grade 1 status to Grade 2. Really? “Only” four of the last seven runnings of the Delaware Handicap, including the most recent, were won by the champions Songbird, Royal Delta, and Blind Luck.

Anyway, this Obeah lured a full field and is a good betting race. Tequilita comes off a third in the Ruffian in her best performance yet, and Fuhriously Kissed (who is cross-entered in the Fleur de Lis) finished third in two graded stakes off the pricey claim three starts back, including the Grade 1 Apple Blossom. Both are logical win threats. But even if she is by Union Rags, I have serious questions about Tequilita at this 1 1/8-mile distance, and Fuhriously Kissed’s efforts off the claim were of the clunk-up variety on the sort of wet tracks she prefers over the dry footing she’ll catch Saturday.

I don’t like her extreme outside post, but I like Power of Snunner. Power of Snunner’s form this year is darkened by extraneous circumstances. She only just got up to win the Foxy J. G. in her 2018 bow as the favorite, but that was off a five-month layoff. She didn’t run a jump in the subsequent DuPont Distaff, but that was over a wet track on which she is not at her best.

Nevertheless, Power of Snunner is now primed for a peak effort in her third start off the layoff, and that could be good enough. In fact, Power of Snunner won this race last year over an opponent in Martini Glass who is better than anyone she faces Saturday. After losing to Power of Snunner, Martini Glass went on to, among other things, finish second to Songbird in the Delaware Handicap, finish second in the Grade 1 Spinster, finish third in the Grade 3 Houston Ladies Classic, win the Grade 3 Royal Delta and Grade 2 Azeri, and finish third in the Grade 1 La Troienne.

Regret Stakes

There are a lot of ways for the betting public to go here, but Beyond Blame is the one I want.

Beyond Blame had a tough trip when sixth in the Edgewood last time as she was checked during much of the run to the first turn and then made a little four-wide run on the far turn. The Edgewood has since proved a productive race. All four who have started out of it have run well, including Get Stormy, winner of the Penn Oaks.