Dean Delivers #2 with Jaime Rodriguez riding held off the challenge of Downtowncharlybrown #6 and Fernando Jara. (Julia Sebastianelli/EQUI-PHOTO)
Notches 4th Consecutive Stakes
Tom Luicci/Monmouth Park
OCEANPORT, N.J. – Dean Delivers was hooked both early and late in Sunday’s $100,000 Rumson Stakes at Monmouth Park, but with the form spree the 5-year-old gelding is on these days it didn’t matter.
Pressed early by Five Dreams and Speaking, and then pressured for most of the stretch by Downtownchalybrown, Dean Delivers dug in for a half-length victory in earning his fourth straight stakes win since moving to the barn of trainer Ned Allard.
The odds-on favorite in the field of six 3-year-olds and up, Dean Delivers paid $2.80 to win. The winning time for the five furlongs was :57.72.
“I was a little nervous about the 1 post going five-eighths because I knew (jockey Jamie Rodriguez) would have to use him pretty good to keep his position,” said Allard. “I was starting to worry about it around the turn, but Jamie told me when he asked him to run, he picked it up and took off.
“I think those two horses that got a short lead on him going into the turn were trying to take his game away. Jamie rode such a smart race. He didn’t worry about it because he knew he had a horse that would kick late. It was a little nerve-wracking though.”
Since shipping north and moving to Alllard’s barn, Dean Delivers, a Florida-bred son of Cajun Breeze, has reeled off four straight stakes starting on May 27. He now has a 9-8-2 line from 25 career starts with $787,660 in earnings.
“How good is he? I think his form speaks for itself right now,” said Allard. “I’m not sure what’s next. We’ve got visions of grandeur, but I don’t know whether they’re realistic or not. We’ll see.”
If Dean Delivers, bred and owned by Stonehedge LLC, does get a bit of break now it’s one he earned off the Rumson effort.
Dean Delivers broke sharp, yielded the lead to Five Dreams early, then saw Speaking loop three-wide midway through the final turn to take the lead from both. Downtownchalybrown followed Speaking’s move on the outside with Rodriguez skimming the rail.
The two hooked up from mid-stretch on, with Dean Delivers and Rodriguez denying 26-year-old trainer Panagiotis Synnefias his first career stakes with his determined stretch run.
Five Dreams was another two lengths back in third.
“He had to work for this one,” said Rodriguez. “He hasn’t run five furlongs for a while, since he broke his maiden. But nothing seems to bother him. Once I got to the quarter pole, I asked him, and he went. When we broke, I was going to wait and see how things played out. He broke sharply but he did not need to be on the lead. I just wanted to be within a half-length or next to the other speed because I knew I had horse. I just had to wait for the moment.
“Once I saw a horse coming outside coming out of the turn, I said `okay, let’s go.’ I maybe only hit him twice in the stretch. I was pretty confident with him today. Every time he runs now, he gets better.”
Rodriguez has been aboard Dean Delivers for his past three stakes victories.
“I love the way he is running now,” said Rodriguez. “He can run anywhere. When he broke sharply, I didn’t want to take him back. I just wanted him to be free and comfortable because I know how good he is right now.”
