Delaware | Horse Racing Free Tips

Laurel’s Leading Rider Sheldon Russell Out Four To Six Weeks With Broken Wrist

Jockey Sheldon Russell, the leading rider at Laurel Park's current summer meet, will miss at least two months with a broken right wrist suffered in a gate mishap Thursday at Delaware Park.

Agent Marty Leonard said the 32-year-old Russell was hurt after being unseated by his mount Maliceinthepalace, a 3-year-old filly trained by Michael Gorham, as the horses were loading for Delaware's third race. Maliceinthepalace would go on to run fourth under Alex Cintron.

“Walking into the gate the horse just reared up and he came off. When he came off, he landed on the ground and used his hand to brace his fall and that's what did it,” Leonard said. “The second he hit the ground he said he knew it was broken. They went and got X-rays and that confirmed it.

Leonard said Russell, married to Laurel-based trainer Brittany Russell, is expected to be out “four to six weeks.”

“You never expect that to happen,” Leonard said.

Sheldon Russell led Laurel's summer meet, which began May 30 following a 2 ½-month pause in live racing amid the coronavirus pandemic, with 20 wins and $568,391 in purse earnings, five wins ahead of runner-up Trevor McCarthy.

Russell had five multi-win days during the summer stand, including hat tricks June 6, 8 and 12. He is the regular rider for multiple stakes-winning 3-year-old filly Hello Beautiful, under consideration for the Test (G1) Aug. 8 at Saratoga and trained by his wife.

A winner of 1,392 career races, Russell ranked second in Maryland with 93 wins and $3.3 million in purses earned in 2019. The state's leading rider in 2011, he is a seven-time meet champion owning five titles at Laurel and two at Pimlico Race Course between 2008 and 2015.

Though he has been ridden at full health since the spring of 2017, Russell's career has been beset by injuries. He suffered a torn ligament in his right thumb in 2016; torn labrum and fractured shoulder in a November 2015 training accident; broken ribs (2015, 2010), punctured lung (2015), broken foot (2013), broken wrist (2008) and fractured vertebrae (2007, 2008).

“Unfortunately, he's gone through this before. It's never, 'why me' with him. I don't know how he does it, but he takes it well. He takes it in stride. I'm sure he's disappointed, but he's a true professional. He's just going to get healthy and get back to riding again. That's what he does,” Leonard said. “He's a great person.”

Laurel's summer meet, which had been racing Fridays and Saturdays since May 30, will move to a three-day schedule starting Thursday, July 23. Racing will be conducted Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays through Saturday, Aug. 22.

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Dunbar Road Tops Field Of Eight In Delaware Handicap

Peter M. Brant's Dunbar Road tops the 83rd renewal of the $400,000 Grade II Delaware Handicap at Delaware Park this Saturday. The filly and mare summer classic has attracted a field of eight. This is the first time the race will be run at a mile and an eighth. The race had been contested at mile and a quarter and prior to 1951 at a mile and a sixteenth.

In her only outing this year, Dunbar Road posted a 1 ¾-length victory in the mile and a sixteenth $100,000 Shawnee Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 23. Last year, the 4-year-old trained by Chad Brown won the Grade II Mother Goose at Belmont Park and the Grade I Alabama at Saratoga before running third in the Grade I Spinster at Keeneland. The daughter of Quality Road closed her 2019 campaign by finishing fifth in the Grade I Breeder's' Cup Distaff at Santa Anita. She has career record of five wins, a second and a third from eight starts with earnings $758,040.

The morning-line odds second choice is Mathis Stable, Madaket Stables and Doheny Racing Stable's Bellera. The 4-year-old trained by Todd Pletcher has a career record of four wins, two seconds and a third from nine starts with earnings of $275,560. In her most recent, the daughter of Bernardini finished seventh in the $100,000 Ginger Punch over the Gulfstream Park grass on June 6. Previously, she ran third in the seven furlong $100,000 Musical Romance at Gulfstream Park on May 16. In her only other outing this year, she won the mile and an eighth $100,000 Ladies Handicap at Aqueduct on January 19. Last year, she posted three wins and two seconds from six starts including a score in Grade III Comely Stakes. She has a career record of four wins, two seconds and a third from nine starts with earnings of $275,560.

“We like the mile and an eighth around two turns for her,” said trainer Todd Pletcher. “She's shown that is what she likes. We're happy to get her back to what she's best suited for.”

Pletcher has also entered Repole Stable's Always Shopping. In her most recent, the 4-year-old daughter of Awesome Again finished fourth going a mile and an eighth on the grass in the Treasure Coast Stakes at Gulfstream Park on June 7. In her only other outing this year, the Kentucky-bred ran third in a one mile allowance at Gulfstream Park on April 18. Last year, she won a pair of stakes Aqueduct including the Grade II Gazelle Stakes before completing her 3-year-old campaign by running sixth in the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico. She has a career record of two wins, two seconds and a third from eight starts with earnings of $261,840.

Pletcher is seeking his fifth Delaware Handicap victory, which would set the record for most wins by a trainer in the race. Pletcher won his first Delaware Handicap in 2001 with Irving's Baby; he followed with back-to-back victories with Fleet Indian in 2006 and Unbridled Belle in 2007, and his most recent was with Life at Ten in 2010. He is currently tied with Henry Clark, who won the race in in 1958 and 1959 with Endine and in 1969 and 1970 with Obeah.

The mare who is starting to get real good at the right time is Ten Strike Racing's Lucky Move. In her most recent, the daughter of Lookin at Lucky posted her first career stakes by notching a 1 ¼-length score in the mile and a sixteenth $100,000 Obeah Stakes at Delaware Park on June 17. Previously, the New York-bred conditioned by Juan Carlos Guerrero ran third and fourth in a pair of Aqueduct New York state-bred allowances. In her only other outing this year, she finished second to Bellera in the Ladies Handicap. She has a career record of five wins, seven seconds and four thirds from 27 starts.

“She has been getting bigger and stronger,” said trainer Juan Carlos Guerrero. “We knew she was a bit of a longshot going into the Obeah, but she looked like a million dollars and when you watched her train, she stood apart from everybody in the way she was doing it. I really liked her chances in the Obeah, but I was not expecting that big of an effort. Since the Obeah, she has been doing great. We worked her the other day and she went so easy, I was afraid she went faster than we wanted (she breezed five furlongs in :59 2/5 at Parx on July 3). But, the rider barely even asked her and she came out of it alert and bouncing. It was like she barely did anything. So, she really could not be doing any better and we are excited about Saturday.”

$400,000 Grade II Delaware Handicap

For fillies and mares 3-year-olds and up

at a mile and an eighth

PP	HORSE	OWNER	TRAINER	JOCKEY	Wg	OD
1	Vexatious	Calumet Farm	Jack Sisterson	Miguel Mena	115	12-1
2	Dunbar Road	Peter Brant	Chad Brown	Irad Ortiz Jr.	123	6/5
3	Wicked Awesome	Warwick Stable	A. Ferris Allen	Horacio Karamanos	113	15-1
4	Bellera	Mathis, Madaket, Doheny	Todd Pletcher	Trevor McCarthy	118	7/2
5	Always Shopping	Repole Stable	Todd Pletcher	Carol Cedeno	119	5-1
6	Lucky Move	Ten Strike Racing	Juan Carlos Guerrero	Roberto Rosado	117	8-1
7	Saracosa	Chad Schumer	Cipriano Contreras	Martin Garcia	116	10-1
8	Over Thinking	G. Watts Humphrey	Victoria Oliver	Jaime Rodriguez	114	15-1

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NYRA Partners With Delaware Park For All Graded Stakes Cross Country Pick 5

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will team with Delaware Park to host a Cross Country Pick 5 encompassing all graded stakes on Saturday, July 4.

The wager will feature the first two legs at Delaware Park and the concluding three at Belmont Park. Live coverage of Saturday's stakes action from Belmont Park will be available with America's Day at the Races on FS1 and MSG+. NBC, which will air live coverage from 5-6 p.m. Eastern, will show the sequence's third leg with the Grade 1, $500,000 Runhappy Metropolitan at 5:47 p.m.

Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence are now available for download at https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/cross-country-wagers.

Delaware Park will kick off the wager at 4:45 p.m. with the Grade 3, $300,000 Delaware Oaks for sophomore fillies going 1 1/16 miles in Race 8. The eight-horse field will be part of a historic Delaware Oaks edition, as the race will offer 50-20-10-5 qualifying points towards the Kentucky Oaks in September at Churchill Downs for the first time. Piece of My Heart, the winner of the Gardenia in May, has been training at Delaware Park and will compete against a field that includes Comical, trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen.

Action will stay at Delaware for Race 9 in the Grade 3, $125,000 Kent for 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles on turf. Gufo, 5-2 on the morning line, enters with three straight wins. The Christophe Clement trainee made his debut in November at Aqueduct Racetrack and won the English Channel last out in May at Gulfstream Park. Post time is 5:15 p.m.

Belmont Park, which offers a total of five graded stakes on Runhappy Met Mile Day, will close out the Independence Day wager by hosting the final three legs, starting with the Runhappy Met Mile in Race 9. An eight-horse field boasting a combined 20 graded stakes victories will look to capture the Runhappy Met Mile and in the process earn an automatic entry to the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile in November at Keeneland.

The race's 127th edition features Code of Honor, a $2.4-million earner and winner of last year's Grade 1 Runhappy Travers at Saratoga and Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup; and four-time Grade 1-winner McKinzie, who captured last year's Grade 1 Whitney Handicap at Saratoga and boasts lifetime earnings of over $3.4 million.

The penultimate leg of the Cross Country Pick 5 will offer another Grade 1, with the $400,000 Manhattan for 4-year-olds and up going 1 ¼ miles on the inner turf in Race 10 at 6:20 p.m. Seven-time winner Sadler's Joy will be making his third career start in the Manhattan, coming tantalizingly close to a win for trainer Tom Albertrani by finishing a neck behind Spring Quality as part of a blanket finish in 2018. The year prior, the son of Kitten's Joy ran third, 1 ½-lengths back to winner Ascend. Sadler's Joy ended his 2019 year with a two-length win in the Grade 3 Red Smith in November at Aqueduct Racetrack and started his 7-year-old campaign against top-tier competition, running sixth in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf in January at Gulfstream Park.

Two-time Grade 1-winner Channel Maker will return to the site of his most recent win, when he bested Arklow by a neck to win the Grade 1 Man o'War in May 2019. Trainer Chad Brown has won the Manhattan four of the last six runnings and entered a troika of contenders for his bid to repeat after Bricks and Mortar's triumph last year. This year, he will saddle Instilled Regard, Devamani and Rockemperor.

Closing out the sequence will be the Grade 2, $200,000 Suburban in Race 11 at 6:51 p.m. The 1 1/4-mile test on Big Sandy, will feature the one-two-three finishers of last year's Grade 1 Belmont Stakes as Sir Winston, Tacitus and Joevia rematch in the 134th edition of the 10-furlong Suburban.

Sir Winston, who won the 2019 Belmont Stakes for Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse, made his belated return on June 11 on a sloppy Belmont strip in the 1 3/8-mile Flat Out, running second by 5 ¼-lengths to Suburban rival Moretti. Tacitus will make his third start of the season and first since running fourth in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap on May 2. Joevia was fourth last out in the Grade 3 Westchester off a three-month layoff.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.

The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday, July 4:

Leg 1 – Delaware Park, Race 8: Grade 3 Delaware Oaks (4:45 p.m.)
Leg 2 – Delaware Park, Race 9: Grade 3 Kent (5:15 p.m.)
Leg 3 – Belmont, Race 9: Grade 1 Runhappy Met Mile (5:47 p.m.)
Leg 4 – Belmont, Race 10: Grade 1 Manhattan (6:20 p.m.)
Leg 5 – Belmont, Race 11: Grade 2 Suburban (6:51 p.m.)

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Half-Brother To Rising Turf Star Mean Mary, Bye Bye Melvin Keeps To Grass In Saturday’s Kent Stakes

Otter Bend's Gufo tops the $125,000 Grade III Kent Stakes at Delaware Park this Saturday. The mile-and-an-eighth grass affair has attracted a field of eight 3-year-olds. The Kent has been carded as the ninth race with an approximate post time of 5:15 p.m.

Gufo will try to extend his current winning streak to four. The Kentucky-bred trained by Christophe Clement, started his career with a third in an Aqueduct turf maiden on November 17. The son of Declaration of War followed with three successive turf victories all at Gulfstream Park. On December 29, he broke his maiden by a nose going a mile and a sixteenth. He followed with a half-length triumph in a mile and an eighth allowance on March 27. In his most recent, he won the mile and a sixteenth $75,000 English Channel Stakes on May 2. He has career earnings of $102,510.

Trainer H. Graham Motion has entered Alex Campbell Jr.'s Bye Bye Melvin who has a career record of two wins and a third from six starts with earnings of $32,840. In his most recent, the son of Uncle Mo was unplaced in the mile and a sixteenth $400,000 Grade II Tampa Bay Derby on March 7. His previous two efforts, on the grass at Tampa Bay Downs, tell the real story of the Kentucky-bred. On December 7, he broke his maiden going a mile and a sixteenth by 8 ¼-lengths and then he followed with a ¾-length score in a one mile allowance on January 8.

“He had two solid turf victories at Tampa over the winter,” said trainer H. Graham Motion. “But, we thought he breezed really well on the dirt, so we decided to run him in the Tampa Bay Derby. After the Tampa Bay Derby, we are excited to get him back on the grass. He is a half-brother to Mean Mary, so we think he has a bright future on the grass.”

Mean Mary has a career turf record of five wins and a second including victories this year in the Grade III La Prevoyante and Grade III Orchid at Gulfstream Park and Grade II New York at Belmont Park.

$125,000 Grade III Kent Stakes

For 3-year-olds

at a mile-and-an-eighth (turf)

#	HORSE	OWNER	TRAINER	JOCKEY	Wg	OD
1	Talking	Augustin Stable	Jonathan Thomas	Daniel Centeno	118	12-1
2	On Base	Robert LaPenta, Bridlewoo	Jonathan Thomas	TBD	118	15-1
3	Pixelate	Godolphin	Michael Stidham	Angel Suarez	118	3-1
4	Bye Bye Melvin	Alex Campbell Jr.	H. Graham Motion	Feargal Lynch	118	6-1
5	Me and Mr. C	Stonehedge	Edward Allard	Carol Cedeno	118	8-1
6	Gufo	Otter Bend Stables	Christophe Clement	Trevor McCarthy	118	5/2
7	Sunsation	Newtown Anner Stud	Kelsey Danner	Joe Bravo	118	6-1
8	Vanzzy	Daniel Ryan	Michael Pino	Mychel Sanchez	118	4-1

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