OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Delahaye has been overshadowed by better and faster barnmates in stakes races recently, but she looks to be the strongest part of trainer Chad Brown’s three-ply, uncoupled entry in Sunday’s $135,000 Forever Together Stakes at Aqueduct.
Delahaye is already a two-time stakes winner this year, having captured the Tom Benson Memorial at Fair Grounds in March and the Grade 3 Mint Julep at Churchill Downs in June. In her three stakes defeats this year, Delahaye finished behind stablemates Beaute Cachee (twice) and Chili Flag, each Grade 1 winners.
Delahaye, a 4-year-old daughter of Medaglia d’Oro, hasn’t run since a third-place finish, three-quarters of a length behind Beaute Cachee, in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa at Saratoga. Gina Romantica, another Brown trainee who was second in that race, came back to win the Grade 1 First Lady in her next start.
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“She ran solid,” Brown said of Delahaye’s Ballston Spa effort. “Maybe she ran a little better early in the year. I gave her a little chance to regroup, and she seems to be training fine.”
Flavien Prat rides Delahaye from post 8.
Venencia, a French-bred filly, has finished third and second in first-level allowance races this year. Venencia has gotten extremely far back in both of those races, so Brown is adding blinkers to her equipment for the Forever Together.
“I’m hoping she gets herself a little bit better position,” said Brown, who has Manny Franco to ride.
Brown also entered Root Cause, a daughter of Into Mischief, who, in her most recent start, finished last in a second-level allowance on Sept. 2 at Saratoga. Irad Ortiz Jr. rides her from post 7.
Trainer Christophe Clement sends out Breath Away, who was beaten a head when third to Ocean Club in the Grade 3 Noble Damsel here Sept. 21. Her last three starts have all come at one mile, and she will now stretch to 1 1/16 miles in the Forever Together.
“I don’t think it’s a big deal,” Clement said of the added distance. “You would like some pace because she comes from slightly off the pace.”
Dylan Davis rides Breath Away from post 5.
Tass, who beat Chili Flag in a second-level allowance here in October 2023, makes her first start since a fourth-place finish in the Grade 3 La Prevoyante at Gulfstream in January. Overall, she is a three-time winner over the Aqueduct turf.
“She got a little bit of bone bruising. She looks healthy, she’s doing well, and that’s a good starting point for her,” trainer Jorge Abreu said.
Payout Ratio, a Mid-Atlantic shipper from the barn of Miguel Vera, looks like she’ll set the pace under Francisco Martinez.
The Argentine-bred Edict, fifth in the Athenia Stakes off a 10-month layoff, looks to move forward off that effort for trainer David Donk.
Canisy and Quarrel complete the field.
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