Summer Means Major Track 'Chasing - and Saratoga!

By Laurel Scott

Here in the States, the summer exodus to the major tracks is a jump racing tradition. A definite departure from the hunt meets' rural courses, these level ovals invariably yield faster times and a whole new class of competitor. Delaware Park After brief stops at Pimlico and Churchill Downs, the action moved to Delaware Park near Stanton, Delaware on July 12. A lovely facility with history to spare, Delaware Park is the perfect place to prepare for "big money" racing at Saratoga. The feature here was the Grade II, $50,900 Midsummer Hurdle Handicap, a 2 1/4-mile revival of an old Monmouth Park favourite last run in 1986. Headlining was 1996 Eclipse Award winner Correggio, who was attempting to stage a comeback after a devastating illness last year. But a longshot named Prime Legacy stole his fire, lodging a resounding score for owner Doris Rabon, jockey Joseph Delozier III and trainer W. Ben Guessford. Highweighted at 160 pounds, Correggio (Arch Kingsley Jr.) set his usual pace, but faded dramatically at the third-last after being overtaken by Prime Legacy. The 9-year-old "entire" horse drew off easily, crossing the wire 9 lengths ahead of Serenity Prayer in 4:14 2/5
Prime Legacy	It was Delozier's first race on Prime Legacy, who is normally stabled in South Carolina but was now training in Pennsylvania en route to Saratoga. "Correggio was the only one I was worried about, so I stayed with him," the Maryland-based rider said. "After I outjumped him down the backside, I just let my horse kick on, and he was travelling so well that I wasn't worried about a thing."
Next stop: Saratoga's A.P. Smithwick Memorial, where Prime Legacy would once again face handicap conditions (and a probable jump in weight). Also at Delaware, trainer F. Bruce Miller saddled two maiden winners for Charles Strittmatter's Clorevia Farm. Both Popular Gigalo and Patrician Power were ridden by Miller's son Chip, whom the trainer credited for the wins. "Chip was riding his best the whole day," he said. "He kept all the horses in the perfect spots - they had perfect trips on the inside the whole way."		Jody Petty
Wendy Hendriks' Hunt Lane got past both Assurance and Doubledarn to take the mini-meet's 2-mile, $16,000 starter handicap. Trained by the owner's son Ricky and ridden by Jody Petty, the Tanglewood Cup winner made a bold late move to best Mumblemood (Joseph Delozier III) by two lengths.