Devastation This Week at DelPenn

The fall juvenile stakes series at Delaware continues, this time with nine colts going the testing distance of 1 1/16 miles in the Mine Devastation Bonanza Stakes. Named after a hard-knocking three time stakes winner, the connections of these youngsters hope that their charges can exceed Devastation’s “D” rating by the end of their careers. However, this is only the beginning of these nine horses’ careers, and a stakes win would be a step in the right direction. Only one horse in this field is already a stakes winner, but several others have been knocking on the door. The morning line favorite, in a tight-knit group is (surprise!) the stakes winner, mortician’s Beau’s Pegasus. And the colt certainly is beau, a handsome son of Fusaichi Pegasus. With an 8-2-3-0 record, the dark bay has been made a premature move in his routing debut, then won for fun in the Nineteen Meal Special at this distance (88 SF), 4 ½ lengths the best at the wire. The colt then bounced last time out, when he wheeled back on only three weeks’ rest, but he gets five here and should give another good account of himself. There are two co-second choices, at 7/2. Kirby Is Fast has the highest speed figure in the race, as the dark bay colt closed late going 7 ½ furlongs in an Ontario stakes to grab third, posting a 90 SF. Kirby66 is bringing his son of Fast Play back on only three weeks’ rest, so he may be primed for a bounce. This is Kirby’s routing debut, but his closing style suggests he’ll be able to handle the extra distance. Touch Rush tries routes again after tiring in his only previous attempt. Since then, the rcdlogan charge has broken his maiden at 7 ½ panels (82 SF), and finished second in a 7 ½ furlong stakes (88 SF). The Touch Gold half-brother to stakes winner (and graded placed) Hotrush, and stakes placed Rushingwind is bred to be at his best between 7 and 9 furlongs, but so far in his career, he seems to want closer to 7 than 9. However, he has earned another shot at this distance, and a win here would not be unexpected.

Next is the first half of the super entry, super24’s Etude(IRE). The son of Street Cry was in the cavalry charge known as the finish for this year’s Sparkling Wine-G1. He finished a better than it looked sixth, as he made up three lengths in the stretch on the first two horses, only to be on the losing end of a very narrow finish, one that saw second through sixth separated by less than 1/4 length (85 SF). In his only other routing attempt, Etude won a one mile allowance (80 SF). He’ll need to take another step forward here, but with six weeks’ rest, he should be primed for another competitive effort at 5/1. The other half of the entry is super27’s Dark Princes. The handsome son of Empire Maker turned heads in his debut, when he went from 12th to 1st over six panels, earning an 81 SF. Injured at Smackdown, the chocolate-hued colt showed that the problem was behind him when once again making a nice move at the top of the stretch to win an allowance here at Delaware (7 furlongs, 81 SF). Should love the extra distance, but gets a class test here today.

The most interesting entrant in this field, in my mind, is Sdmf1’s Sinner’s Swing. On the one hand, the royally bred (Sadler’s Wells x Fusaichi Pegasus) colt is still a maiden in four tries. But don’t dismiss him on that basis, for Sinner earned one of his second place finishes in the Grade 2 End of the Line Futurity, steadily closing at the end to earn an 87 SF. The distance suits, Ross rides, and this may be the race where he finally gets his picture taken. Jungleboy’s Yelta is proving to be a bit of a late bloomer, just like his daddy, Derby hero Charismatic. After knocking on the door, he broke through last time out, winning a one mile maiden with an 87 SF. Hasn’t always had the strongest finishing kick, but a repeat of that last race puts him right with the more fancied contenders at the wire. Despite winning at 4 ½ furlongs in his debut, Greeley’s Galaxy has been crying out for more distance, and finally gets it on Saturday. That may be in no small part to the presence of Ela-Mana-Mou as the dam-sire in this Mr. Greeley juvenile. The farthest this blood-red chestnut has been was 7 ½ furlongs, and he made it a snappy allowance score, posting a lifetime best 84 SF in that race. If he takes to the extra distance, he’ll offer a nice payoff at 9/1. Rounding out the field is rocinante’s Born Toulouse, who, if he follows his pattern of good and bad races, is due for a good effort, but he’ll need a lifetime best here, as the Deputy Commander colt has yet to break the 75 SF mark. Good luck to all!