Each year, Delta Downs becomes a melting pot, luring 2-year-olds from across the country to compete in the rich Delta Downs Princess (gr. III) and Delta Downs Jackpot (gr. III), and this year is no different.
The $500,000 Princess will provide an enticing appetizer for the $1 million Jackpot, drawing a field of nine juvenile fillies, with the first three finishers of the My Trusty Cat Stakes at Delta taking on winners from Calder, Woodbine, Presque Isle, and
The Steve Asmussen-trained Madame Cactus, impressive winner of the seven-furlong My Trusty Cat as the 9-5 choice, will be the likely favorite in the 1 1/16-mile Princess. The daughter of Cactus Ridge had been trained by Peter Eurton at Santa Anita, where she broke her maiden by 6 1/4 lengths in her previous start.
Madame Cactus' main competition should come from one of several fillies, including Rose to Gold who is returning to the dirt after a dismal 12th-place finish in the Darley Alcibiades Stakes (gr. I) on Keeneland’s Polytrack. Prior to that the daughter of
The Mark Casse-John Oxley team, which has had a big year, will be represented by Floral Sky, a daughter of Sky Mesa who is coming off an allowance victory on grass at Woodbine following a fifth-place finish in the Debutante Stakes (gr. III) at Churchill Downs and a Churchill maiden score, both on dirt.
Tom Amoss comes loaded with the undefeated Unhedged, a Broken Vow filly who scored in the Presque Isle Debutante in her last start for her third victory in as many starts. She indicated her sharpness with a bullet five-furlong work in 1:00 breezing in the slop at Fair Grounds. Amoss also has entered Cayllano, third-place finisher in the My Trusty Cat, who was fourth in the Adirondack Stakes (gr. II) at
If you throw out Salamera’s well-beaten fifth-place finish in the Chandelier Stakes (gr. I) at Santa Anita, then you can certainly make a case for the daughter of Successful Appeal , based on her second-place finish in the Adirondack Stakes behind Kauai Katie and her score in the JJ’s Dream Stakes at Calder.
Even the price horses in here have to be given some kind of shot. Touch Magic, is coming off a fast-closing second in the Cassidy Stakes at Calder, Sittin At the Bar finished second in the My Trusty Cat, and Cloudy in Sandiego, trained by Steve Margolis, is coming off a fourth-place finish in the Pocahontas Stakes (gr. II) at odds of 55-1.
Delta Downs Princess, grade III, $500,000
1—Rose to Gold/Salvatore Santoro/P. Lopez
2—Flora Sky/Mark Casse/M. Mena
3—Madame Cactus/Steve Asmussen/R.E. Eramia
4—Touch Magic/Antonio Sano/J.M. Rios
5—Cayllano/Tom Amoss/G. Melancon
6—Salamera/Rodolfo Garcia/A. Castillo
7—Cloudy in Sandiego/Steve Margolis/T.J. Thompson
8—Unhedged/Tom Amoss/D. Saenz
9—Sittin At the Bar/Brent Brinkman/M. Guidry