Kent Stakes | Horse Racing Free Tips

Gufo Rolls To Fourth Consecutive Win In Delaware Park’s Kent Stakes

Otter Bend Stables' Gufo notched a record-setting victory Saturday in the $125,000 Grade 3 Kent Stakes at Delaware Park in Wilmington, Del.

With Trevor McCarthy aboard, the 3-year-old son of Declaration of War won by a half-length and established a new track record by covering the mile and a sixteenth in 1:46.94 over a firm turf course. The previous record of 1:47.19 was set in 2016.

Gufo returned $3.20 as the favorite in the field of seven. Pixelate, with Angel Suarez, finished second. It was another 2 ½-lengths farther back to Vanzzy, with Mychel Sanchez third. Sunsation, with Joe Bravo, cut early fractions of :47.49 for the half-mile and 1:11.31 for the three-quarter miles before finishing in fifth.

The Kent Stakes is the first graded stakes victory for Gufo, who has now won four in a row. Previously, the Kentucky-bred conditioned by Christophe Clement won the $75,000 English Channel Stakes at Gulfstream Park on May 2. He raised his career mark to four wins and a third from five starts with earnings of $177,000.

“They wanted me to have him a little bit closer to the pace today, but he just was not comfortable when we I put a little pressure on him to stay up early,” said winning McCarthy, who also won the Christiana Stakes earlier on the card. “We went a little slow the first quarter but things quickened up. I felt like I was on the best horse, so I left him alone, kept him out of trouble and gave him time to get himself together.

“I saved a little bit of ground in the first turn and then I got him out down the backside and that is when he really started to gain his rhythm,” McCarthy added. “If there was any horse who could have beaten me today, I thought it was the three, Pixielate, and I just kind of tracked him the whole way. When we turned for home, I just went outside of Pixieilate, and my horse did all of the work. He was really impressive breaking the track record and he really stormed home the last eighth of a mile.”

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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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