Wet Paint looks to rebound in Delaware Handicap

Last year, trainer Brad Cox used Delaware Park as a springboard for Idiomatic’s epic campaign culminating with a Breeders’ Cup Distaff victory and an Eclipse Award as outstanding older dirt female.

Cox looks to repeat in Sunday’s Grade 2, $500,000 Delaware Handicap for fillies and mares at 1 3/16 miles, this time with Godolphin homebred Wet Paint.

In 2023, Wet Paint won three graded stakes, including the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks. She completed her season with an eighth-place finish against Idiomatic in the Distaff.

This year, Wet Paint is winless from two starts, but she improved from a double-digit defeat in Oaklawn’s Grade 1 Apple Blossom to place third in Churchill’s Grade 3 Shawnee. She breezed a half-mile in company with Grade 2 winner Denim and Pearls on June 30, and bested that one by a head despite flopping to her wrong lead near the finish.

Honor D Lady and Saddle Up Jessie, the second and third finishers in Monmouth’s Lady’s Secret at 1 1/16 miles on June 8, face off again on Sunday.

Honor D Lady, trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., didn’t have a good trip in the Lady’s Secret when second to favored 3-year-old filly Candied.

“Her first step out of the gate was all right, the second step was horrible,” Joseph said. “She made a middle move, flattened out a bit, looked like she was going to run last, then stayed on again. It was a solid effort. I think [this distance] is what she wants.”

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Multiple stakes winner Saddle Up Jessie bobbled slightly leaving the gate in the Lady’s Secret, prompted the pace, made the front turning for home, and then tired. Trained by Brittany Russell, she’s another that appears to appreciate longer distances.

Queen of Missoula, a two-time winner at 1 1/4 miles over synthetic, steps up after finishing third in Pimlico’s Allaire duPont.

“Her biggest strength is she’s got a long stride and a high cruising speed,” trainer Ben Colebrook said. “She tends to lose contact with the field in her races. I want her to be a little bit closer [to the pace] without taking away her punch.”

Abundancia debuts for trainer Juan Arriagada after winning a $75,000 handicap racing one mile on April 27 at Gulfstream. The 4-year-old filly bested older males last year going 1 1/2 miles in a Group 2 event in Peru.

“I’ve had the horse for about 35 days,” Arriagada said. “When the owner decided to give her to me, I called my uncle, who trains horses in Peru. He said she beat the best horses in Peru wire to wire. The longer she can go, the better it is for this horse.”

Trainer Gary Capuano entered Malibu Beauty and Intrepid Dream. Malibu Beauty placed second in an allowance sprinting at Laurel on June 21. Intrepid Lady had a five-race winning streak snapped in the Allaire duPont.

Morning Matcha, third in this race last year, recently finished a troubled seventh in the Grade 2 Bed o’ Roses at Aqueduct. The Pennsylvania-bred has banked $956,140 for trainer Butch Reid.

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