By Joe Quillen
Wednesday 6/5 – Delaware Park Race 8 – Rehoboth Stakes
After two night races north of the border, we head somewhat close to home as we head to Delaware Park for Wednesday’s race as we have fillies and mares going 6 furlongs on the main track. Post time for today’s race is scheduled for 4 pm Eastern time.
We have a field of 10, and the heavy favorite here is the 10 Alva Starr (3/5 morning line). She is a Grade 1 winner winning at Keeneland in April. She tired in her last race on the Kentucky Derby undercard at Churchill and is a major class advantage here. She should be gunning for the lead here, but she did stalk two races back in that Grade 1 win.
If she goes for the lead, she is going to have a ton of speed with her. The 1 Yesternight (10/1 ML) should go for the lead. The 2 Bennykayandsuzytoo (20/1 ML) should go after trying two turns at Oaklawn last month. The 9 Ms. Bucchero (10/1 ML) will be right next to Alva Star and will be going as well.
If you think Alva Starr can rate, which I think she will do in this race where she has a severe class advantage, eat chalk and play the 10 to win. If you want to make some serious money, keep an eye on the show pool for some potential bridge jumping action.
What’s “bridge jumping” in horse racing? That’s when you have an insane amount of money placed in the show pool so that the track will have to pay the minimum amount (at Delaware it’s $2.10). If the horse with the insane amount of money finishes top three (or top two if there’s only win and place wagering), the track will have to pay the $2.10 minimum even if mathematically with takeout as well, they would lost from 1 to 9 cents for every $2 wagered. So imagine what $100,000, $250,000 or more could do to a track. This may be a race where you could see that. Keep an eye on that just in case.
The 6 Apple Picker (8/1 ML) closed to win the Skipat on Preakness Day at Pimlico and is a Grade 3 winner. She’s quite a few steps behind, but sometimes you could have a meltdown scenario where you wonder how certain longshots found a way to win.
The 5 Kant Hurry Love (8/1 ML) should be closer to the page than Apple Picker, and if the 5 has a nice trip behind the leaders, she could have first chance to upset the field, but she has a ton of speed as well.
The 3 Late Frost (15/1 ML) finished third in the Skipat and tired at the end of the race but this was on of the rare races where a horse did not win on the front end at Pimlico on Preakness. She is second race back off of a layoff here.
We will have to keep an eye on the skies as rain is in the forecast and we will also see if that means the heavy favorite runs or not. I’m going to try to beat the favorite here with the 6 Apple Picker. I highly doubt we’ll get 8/1 here, but I’m looking to win races no matter the odds.
Let’s call this race 6-10-5-3 and my play is $20 to win on the 6. Good luck everyone!
Check out my show “Also Eligible” on Saturday mornings at 10 am Eastern/7 am Pacific as AJ Johnson and I discuss the big races, the latest news in horse racing and much more! This Saturday, we will discuss the final leg of this year’s Triple Crown as we have our first look at the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga.