As renewals of the Delaware Handicap (G2) go, 2023 will long be remembered. Juddmonte's Idiomatic won the historic race in a stretch duel, overcoming stumbling at the start to catch front-running Classy Edition.
That victory was followed by three consecutive grade 1 victories to close out the season by the Brad Cox trainee, the last of which came in the Nov. 4 Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) at Santa Anita Park. Months later, she earned an Eclipse Award as the champion older dirt female of 2023.
The 2024 renewal of the $500,000 Delaware Handicap, contested at 1 3/16 miles July 7, does not appear to have a starter of Idiomatic's quality, but Cox is again participating by starting Godolphin's Wet Paint.
Under Sunday's handicap conditions, she carries the top weight at 123 pounds, spotting the opposition from 2-9 pounds. Graded winners Honor D Lady and Morning Matcha are second and third high weights at 121 and 118 pounds, respectively.
Wet Paint, a 4-year-old daughter of Blame , is winless in four starts since winning the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) last summer at Saratoga Race Course. She travels to Delaware Park from her spring base at Churchill Downs, where she finished third in the Shawnee Stakes (G3) in her second start of the year June 1.
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Last year as a 3-year-old, she won three other races in addition to the Coaching Club American Oaks—rattling them off to begin the year at Oaklawn Park in the Martha Washington Stakes, Honeybee Stakes (G3), and Fantasy Stakes (G3). She streaked into the Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs and started as the betting favorite.
However, she would run fourth in the Oaks, and the late-running filly would fail to catch Hoosier Philly and Randomized in slow-paced stakes later in the year. Wet Paint has yet to win outside of her age group.
Regular jockey Flavien Prat returns in the irons.
Jose Ortiz in For The Mount on Honor D Lady
Another 4-year-old, Honor D Lady, won the Remington Park Oaks (G3) last fall in her top achievement from her 3-year-old year. Later in the final start of her 3-year-old season, she would finish third in the Comely Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack.
She is proven outside the 3-year-old ranks, taking the Royal Delta Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park in February. Since then, she ran ninth in the April 13 Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) in a race in which come-backing Wet Paint was sixth. Honor D Lady was most recently second to the grade 1-winning 3-year-old filly Candied in the June 8 Lady's Secret Stakes at Monmouth Park.
Jose Ortiz rides Honor D Lady for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. and owners Final Furlong Farm and Madaket Stables.
LC Racing, Cash is King, and Gary Barber's Morning Matcha ran third in the Delaware Handicap last year. She heads into Sunday's race off a troubled seventh-place finish in the June 15 Bed o' Roses Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct.
"I really did not think she had a fair shot in her last race," said trainer Robert "Butch" Reid. "She was blocked almost the whole trip, but she came out of the race great and she had a beautiful breeze Saturday morning, so we are ready to go."
Delaware Park, Sunday, July 7, 2024, Race 9Entries: Delaware H. (G2)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Malibu Beauty (MD) J.G. Torrealba 117 Gary Capuano 10/1 2 2Honor D Lady (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 121 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. 3/1 3 3Saddle Up Jessie (KY) Sheldon Russell 117 Brittany T. Russell 8/1 4 4Queen of Missoula (KY) Gerardo Corrales 116 Ben Colebrook 8/1 5 5Morning Matcha (PA) Mychel J. Sanchez 118 Robert E. Reid, Jr. 5/1 6 6Wet Paint (KY) Flavien Prat 123 Brad H. Cox 3/2 7 7Intrepid Dream (MD) Jaime Rodriguez 116 Gary Capuano 12/1 8 8Abundancia (KY) Julio A. Hernandez 114 Juan Arriagada 15/1
