Delaware Park Notebook

DELAWARE PARK NOTEBOOK

NOVEMBER 9, 2007

by Albie Johnson

The curtain came down on the 2007 meeting this past weekend when the final

two days of live racing took place.

On Saturday, SUAVE JAZZ (Suave Prospect) won an exciting stretch duel with

pacesetter Banjo Picker (Swear by Dixie) to prevail by a head in the $100,300

Vincent A. Moscarelli Memorial S. The two rivals raced as a team from midstretch

to the wire, with Suave Jazz getting up in the last stride. Bound Notebook

(Notebook), who had an extremely rough trip for the small six-horse field,

finished a length behind Banjo Picker in third. Winning trainer Anthony Dutrow,

who had a tremendous season here, gave a leg up to Ramon Dominguez, who likewise

had another strong year, finishing second in the jockey standings to Jeremy

Rose. Suave Jazz ran in 1:11.24 over a track listed as fast but also deep and

tiring at this late stage.

On closing day Sunday, the Stymie S. reinforced one of the best examples of

the "horse for the course" adage that I've seen in many years. AWFULLY SMART

(Anees) ran his record over the Delaware main track to 8-0-1 from nine starts

with the easiest kind of victory in the $56,066 feature. The field was scratched

down to just four, and Awfully Smart settled into command at the start under

Dominguez. Second-place finisher Better Than Bonds (Sweetsouthernsaint) tried to

make a race of it, but could make no headway while easily holding down the

stretch, finishing 9 1/4 lengths behind the winner. Smart Growth (Gone West)

finished 2 3/4 lengths shy of Better Than Bonds. Alan Goldberg, who two races

earlier unveiled a smart looking two-year-old, trains Awfully Smart, who is

still a tough horse away from Delaware but nothing like he is over this oval.

In that maiden race that preceded the stake, ACCLAIMED (Vindication) took the

lead at the start and never looked back in his debut run. Challenged turning for

home, he responded by drawing off to an impressive five-length score. I thought

it was one of the best performances in a two-year-old race of either gender this

season here.

REFLECTIONS

It's a long season here, just more than six months, and with any extended

meeting there are highlights and stale periods. I thought that the two biggest

moments fittingly came in a pair of the premier events that are mainstays here.

UNBRIDLED BELLE (Broken Vow) put in a devastating performance in the $1 million

Delaware H. (G2), winning in convincing fashion in what would be her best race

of the year. Later on in the meet, NOBIZ LIKE SHOBIZ (Albert the Great) also

put in a great effort in digging down deep and holding off the cavalry in the Kent S. (G3).

That race showed how game and tough a competitor he is as he was making only his second

start on the grass.

The trainer's race was competitive for a while as Michael Gorham stayed in front

of Scott Lake until late June, when he was just overwhelmed by the sheer numbers

of the larger operation. The final tally was 97 to 62, with the number of starters at

415 to 224. Steve Klesaris (56), Tim Ritchey (46) and Anthony

Dutrow (43) rounded out the top five.

The jockey's race finished remarkably close considering that Dominguez

once again spent the six weeks of midsummer at Saratoga. Rose won with 155 of

647 mounts to Dominguez's 138 of 491 rides. Completing the top five in wins were

Kendrick Carmouche (97), Mario Pino (89) and Gabriele Saez (79). Incidentally,

although he did not accomplish it here, on Wednesday Mario Pino, while riding

for his brother Michael, became the 15th jockey in North American history to

amass 6,000 wins. Congratulations.

The racing game always contains hope and aspirations for the next season, and

on that note I thought that the two-year-old racing here this meeting was the

best aspect of the year. It may not contain any Classic winners, but I saw

runners from the barns of Larry Jones, Klesaris, Ritchey, Mike

Trombetta, Graham Motion and Goldberg who could all make some noise next

year.

Have a nice winter and early spring!