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Well-Traveled Bonny South Installed Delaware Handicap Favorite

Juddmonte's Bonny South tops the 84th renewal of the $400,000, Grade 2 Delaware Handicap at Delaware Park in Wilmington, Del., this Saturday. The filly and mare summer classic has attracted a field of seven. After being shortened to a mile and an eighth last year due to the pandemic, the race will return to the traditional distance of a mile and a quarter. The Delaware Handicap has been carded as the ninth race with an approximate post time of 5:15 p.m. ET.

This year, the 4-year-old daughter of Munnings is one for two. In her first outing in 2021, the Kentucky-bred trained by Brad Cox notched a head victory in the 1 1/16-mile, Grade 3 Doubledogdare at Keeneland on April 16. She followed by running second over the same distance in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park on June 5. Last year, Bonny South had a record of two wins and three seconds from six starts including a victory in the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks and a trio of seconds in Grade 1 Alabama at Saratoga, the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico and the Grade 2 Falls City at Churchill Downs. She has a career record of four wins and four seconds from ten starts with earnings $692,150.

“She is doing well,” said trainer Brad Cox. “She is a solid horse. You never really have to make any excuses for her and hopefully with a good trip on Saturday, she will get the job done. We have run her at Fair Grounds, Oaklawn, Pimlico, Keeneland, Saratoga, Belmont and obviously Churchill and she has run well at each time regardless of distance. She is a just a consistent and solid filly.”

Bonny South will be arriving in Delaware towards the end of the week.

“She is going to ship to Monmouth,” Cox said. “We are sending a little string to Monmouth and she will be part of that group. From there, we are going to ship her to Delaware the day before or the day of the race, so she will be there Friday or Saturday.”

A solid effort in the Delaware Handicap will punch a ticket for her to travel to upstate New York in August.

“If all goes well afterward, we will ship her to Saratoga and point for the Personal Ensign (August 28),” Cox said.

Trainer Joseph Saffie Jr. has entered both eFive Racing Thoroughbreds Gibberish and Ken Copenhaver's Queen Nekia.

It will be a homecoming for Queen Nekia as the 6-year-old daughter of Harlington will be returning to the track where she has a main track career record of five wins, two seconds and a third from ten starts. The Florida-bred has not raced at Delaware Park since her Delaware Certified Horse of the Year campaign in 2019.

In her 2021 debut, she posted a 1 ¾-length score in the Grade 3 Royal Delta going 1 1/16 miles at Gulfstream Park on February 20. Since then, she had a pair of fourth-place efforts in the Top Flight Invitational at Aqueduct on April 10 and the aforementioned Phipps at Belmont on June 5. She has a career record of ten wins, six seconds and seven thirds from 34 starts with earnings of $528,876.

“She has run well at Delaware in the past, so hopefully she will run well again on Saturday,” said trainer Joseph Saffie Jr. “She was a proven solid filly before we claimed her back in December 2019 and she has gotten even better. She has done more than we could have ever asked for.”

Gibberish has a career mark of four wins, a second and a third from 11 starts with earnings of $170,310. In her most recent, the 4-year-old daughter of Lea ran second in the 1 1/16-mile Lady's Secret at Monmouth on June 6.

“Gibberish is also coming into the race well,” Saffie Jr. said. “She has won a stake, she beat Queen Nekia once and Queen Nekia beat her and she is coming off a good run at Monmouth. We feel like the mile and a quarter fits her nicely as well and are expecting a solid effort from her.”

$400,000 Grade 2 Delaware Handicap, fillies & mares 3-year-olds and up, 1 1/4 miles

PP	HORSE	OWNER	TRAINER	JOCKEY	Wg	OD
1	Gibberish	eFive Racing Thoroughbreds	Joseph Saffie Jr	Trevor McCarthy	118	8-1
2	Queen Nekia	Ken Copenhaver	Joseph Saffie Jr	Sheldon Russell	119	3-1
3	Dream Marie	Miracle's International	Matthew Williams	Joe Bravo	120	4-1
4	Saracosa	Chad Schumer	Cipriano Contreras	Emmanuel Esquiuel	116	10-1
5	Bonny South	Juddmonte	Brad Cox	Florent Geroux	123	3/2
6	Miss Marissa	Cammarota Racing	James Ryerson	Daniel Centeno	119	6-1
7	Final Cut	G. Watts Humphrey Jr	Victoria Oliver	Jaime Rodriguez	116	12-1

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After ‘Dog-Fight’ Triumph Over Firenze Fire, Mind Control To Target Forego

Rick Sacco of Red Oak Stable, which owns Mind Control in partnership with Madaket Stables, said the multiple Grade 1-winner was bright eyed and happy on Monday following a redemption victory in Sunday's Grade 2, $250,000 John A. Nerud at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., where he denied horse-for-course Firenze Fire an eighth victory over Big Sandy.

Making his first start for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, the Stay Thirsty bay ended an 0-for-6 slump, battling to the outside of Firenze Fire down the backstretch, ultimately getting the better of his foe by a head. Mind Control, who was reunited with Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, replicated a career-best 99 Beyer Speed Figure garnered in his previous victory in the Grade 3 Tom Fool in March 2020 at Aqueduct.

Mind Control arrived at the Nerud, a “Win and You're In” qualifier to the Breeders' Cup Sprint in November at Del Mar, off a close seventh in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs on May 1 for his former conditioner Gregg Sacco. Mind Control finished second to Mischevious Alex in his 2021 bow in the Grade 1 Carter on April 3 at the Big A.

Sacco said the seven-furlong Grade 1, $600,000 Forego on August 28 at Saratoga Race Course would likely be the next target. Both of Mind Control's previous Grade 1 scores came in seven-furlong events at the Spa, capturing the 2018 Hopeful and 2019 H. Allen Jerkens.

“The Forego is our plan,” Sacco said. “When the horse was turned over to Todd, I told him that we wanted to point to yesterday's race. I knew that would give him enough time to acclimate to Todd's program.

“He came out of it awesome,” Sacco added. “He jogged super this morning and he was bright eyed, so now he'll ship up to Saratoga, get freshened and they'll get him ready for the Forego.”

Mind Control, bred in Kentucky by Red Oak Stable, is out of the Lightnin N Thunder mare Feel That Fire.

“The win means so much to Red Oak because we own the mare Feel That Fire, and we own her mother [Ubetwereven] as well,” said Sacco. “We have such nice foals out of these two mares in the pipeline, so when Mind Control wins, it means a lot to the operation.”

Sacco said Mind Control encountered considerable barriers during his 2020 campaign, including a couple of sloppy tracks. He was a distant sixth and eighth over off going in the Grade 1 Runhappy Carter and last year's Forego, respectively.

“For him to win after so many losses in a row was great. It was a tough campaign last year,” Sacco said. “You train for so long and hit a couple of sloppy tracks. After the first time he ran in the slop, he disliked it. At Saratoga, it was slop again. Two times in his career, he had really sloppy tracks, but you're always working around the weather and working around getting them in the best possible condition. Last year was very tough. We didn't have the type of campaign we wanted to have.”

Sacco said the post-position draw may have played in favor of Mind Control, who exited post 2 Sunday to the outside of Firenze Fire.

“Todd, John and myself knew that Firenze Fire was going to go from the rail,” said Sacco. “There were others that showed good speed, but not of our quality. Johnny said he wasn't going to let the horse get away from him, and that if we got away clean, we were going to apply the pressure. He's a fighter and he doesn't lose those dog-fight type of races.”

Mind Control has a 2-year-old half-sister by Mineshaft named Goddess of Fire, who also will be trained by Pletcher.

“She breezed this morning at Saratoga in what was her second breeze for Todd,” Sacco said. “She has a good foundation underneath her and is a beautiful filly. Mind Control is a medium sized horse and will make a good stallion prospect. He is very correct and well-balanced. She's a great big filly, so I'm sure Todd will take his time with her.”

Despite the differences in conformation, Sacco said Mind Control and Goddess of Fire both display the same professional demeanor.

“Mind Control is very straight forward. You tack him up, he wants to go do his business and not be fooled around with,” Sacco said. “The family is straightforward in the same manner. The whole time we had her on the farm, she just wanted to train and do her business. Both are very businesslike.”

Feel That Fire has a yearling by Candy Ride and is currently in foal to Uncle Mo.

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Motion Looking For Ninth Victory In Delaware Park’s Robert G. Dick Memorial

Godolphin's Micheline tops the $150,000, Grade 3 Robert G. Dick Memorial at Delaware Park in Wilmington, Del., on Saturday. The 1 3/8-mile turf affair for fillies and mares has attracted a field of nine.

Micheline, a 4-year-old daughter of Bernardini, has a career record of five wins, two seconds and a third from 15 starts with earnings of $674,478. This year, the Kentucky-bred conditioned by Michael Stidham has one win from three starts. She opened her 2021 campaign with a score in the Grade 2 Hillsborough Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on March 6. She followed with a pair of off-the-board races in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland on April 10 and the Grade 3 Eatontown at Monmouth Park on June 20.

Trainer H. Graham Motion will be going for his ninth career victory in the Robert G. Dick Memorial when he sends Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Micahel Cloonan and Timothy Thornton's Blame Debbie postward. In her only outing this year, the 4-year-old daughter of Blame posted a 3 ½-length score in the mile and a half Searching Stakes at Pimlico on June 13. Last year, the Kentucky-bred had a record of two wins and two thirds from eight starts including a victory in the Grade 3 Dowager Stakes at Keeneland. She has a career record of four wins, a second and three thirds from 12 starts with earnings of $277,920.

“I had not really planned on running her in this race before her last race, but these races are kind of just falling into place and I thought she ran nicely the other day at Pimlico,” said trainer H. Graham Motion. “She did not have a hard race and they did not run fast so I feel very comfortable running her back in four weeks. The races are very similar and we get Victor (Carrasco) back to ride. So with our past luck in this race and the way she has been going, it just makes sense for her to be in the race.”

Jordan Wycoff's Candy Flower may be peaking just at the right time. In her most recent, the 4-year-old daughter of Twirling Candy won a 1 1/16-mile turf allowance at Belmont Park on June 17. Previously, the Kentucky-bred trained by Saffie Joseph Jr. ran third in a one mile turf allowance at Belmont Park on May 22. She has a career record of four wins, three seconds and a third from eleven starts with earnings of $161,092.

“She is in good form and we think this a good spot for her,” said Joseph. “She has been a little of an overachiever. She always tries hard and runs well. We ran her at a mile and a half once at Keeneland and she just got beat, so we feel like the mile and three eighths should suit her well, so this is a good time to test her against Graded competition.”

$150,000 Grade 3 Robert G. Dick Memorial, fillies & mares 3-year-olds and upward,

1 3/8 miles on turf

#	HORSE	OWNER	TRAINER	JOCKEY	Wg	OD
1	Hotsy Totsy	Reeves Thoroughbreds	Amber Cobb	Jaime Rodriguez	118	15-1
2	Candy Flower	Jordan Wycoff	Saffie Joseph Jr	Sheldon Russell	120	8-1
3	Blame Debbie	Eclipse Thoroughbred	H. Graham Motion	Victor Carrasco	122	9/2
4	Micheline	Godolphin	Michael Stidham	Joe Bravo	124	5/2
5	Temple City Terror	Pocket Aces Racing	Brendan Walsh	Florent Geroux	122	6-1
6	Tonal Verse	Heights Stable	H. Graham Motion	Carol Cedeno	118	15-1
7	Luck Money	Catherine Wills	Arnaud Delacour	Mychel Sanchez	118	10-1
8	Dailka	Bal Mar Equine	Albert Stall Jr	Miguel Mena	122	7/2
9	La Dragontea	Reeves Thorughbreds	Christophe Clement	Trevor McCarthy	120	8-1

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Plum Ali Has Final Tightener For Saturday’s $700,000 Belmont Oaks Invitational

Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables and Michael Caruso's Plum Ali worked in company with Al Shira'aa Farms' Mutamakina on the inner turf Monday at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

“It was a nice maintenance work. They both worked well and finished well,” said Clement. “One will go to the River Memories and the other will go to the Oaks. They were the best workers of my barn this morning.”

Plum Ali (by First Samurai), runner-up last out in the nine-furlong Grade 3 Wonder Again, is pointed to Saturday's $700,000 Belmont Oaks Invitational, first leg of the Turf Triple series for sophomore fillies.

Mutamakina (Great Britain-bred by Nathaniel) will be part of a strong one-two punch for Clement along with R Unicorn Stable's Call Me Love, who worked a half-mile solo Monday on the inner turf, in preparation for Sunday's 12-furlong $150,000 River Memories on the Widener turf for older fillies and mares.

Call Me Love, a 5-year-old Sea The Stars chestnut, won a 1 1/16-mile optional-claiming event last out on May 23 on firm Belmont turf.

Call Me Love was winless in five starts against graded company last year, completing the exacta in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 Beaugay at Belmont and the 1 1/16-mile Ballston Spa at Saratoga.

Clement said he was pleased with the easy half-mile breeze.

“It was easy by design,” said Clement. “She's very fit. We let her stretch her legs a little bit.”

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