Zipessa gets stamina test in Robert Dick Memorial

Zipessa ran very well in two tries at 1 1/4 miles last fall, and trainer Michael Stidham will try to squeeze a bit more distance out of her in the Grade 3 Robert Dick Memorial, a 1 3/8-mile turf race for fillies and mares Saturday at Delaware Park.

The $200,000 Dick Memorial, which drew a competitive field of nine, is one of four stakes on a Delaware card that is topped by the $300,000 Delaware Oaks.

Zipessa has yet to win beyond 1 1/16 miles. Stidham considered sending her to Arlington Park for the $100,000 Modesty Handicap at 1 3/16 miles but ultimately decided to go to Delaware. Joe Bravo, who has won the Grade 1 United Nations at Monmouth Park and the Grade 3 Dr. James Penny Memorial at Parx Racing in the last week, has the mount.

“Obviously, the question for us is the 1 3/8-mile distance, whether it is within her range,” said Stidham, who is based at the Fair Hill Training Center. “But we have Bravo, and he gets along with her well. She’s a real high-energy filly and needs to be rated kindly. We hope he can get her to turn off on the backstretch.”

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Zipessa finished third last summer in the 1 3/16-mile Beverly D. In October at Santa Anita, she finished second in the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive going 1 1/4 miles. She was squeezed back at the start of the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at the same distance in November and trailed for the first seven furlongs. She uncorked a good late run to finish fifth of 13 while beaten only 3 1/4 lengths.

Zipessa is 0 for 2 this year but looks set for her best on Saturday.

Paige, the winner of the Via Borghese at Gulfstream Park last December, is a top contender. She has been rested since March by trainer Christophe Clement. Eric Cancel will be in from New York to ride.

Graham Motion has entered both Happyness and Guilty Twelve. The lightly raced Happyness, a 5-year-old who is 3 for 6 in her career, won twice in New York last year. She will be making her first start since December and her debut for Motion.

Guilty Twelve won a second-level optional-claiming race going 1 1/4 miles at Belmont Park in May while making her 5-year-old debut.

There are two $50,000 stakes on the undercard, the Dashing Beauty and the Cape Henlopen.

◗ Sweet On Smokey, who won the six-furlong Dashing Beauty a year ago, has been working well at Laurel Park for trainer Claudio Gonzalez.

The field of 10 also includes Pink Mama, who has won six straight races since being claimed for $10,000 by Gerald Bennett; Miss Inclusive, who is coming off a third-level optional-claiming win at Parx for John Servis; and the speedy Malibu Princess, trained by Rudy Rodriguez.

◗ The Cape Henlopen, at 1 1/2 miles on turf, has a field of 11 topped by the Motion-trained Street Fashion, who is coming off an optional-claiming win at Belmont, and Renown, who defeated Street Fashion in the Grade 3 Sycamore at Keeneland last fall for trainer Elizabeth Voss.