BY MONMOUTH PARK PRESS OFFICE (EDITED)
OCEANPORT, NJ—Trainer Ned Allard knew he was getting a proven, accomplished sprinter when owner Marilyn Campbell’s Stonehedge LLC sent Dean Delivers to his Delaware Park base from Florida this spring.
What he didn’t anticipate was that the 5-year-old gelded son of Stonehedge Farm South stallion Cajun Breeze would rip off three consecutive stakes victories following the change in scenery.
Sunday, Florida-bred Dean Delivers will try for a fourth straight added-money triumph—and second this year at Monmouth Park—when he faces a speed-filled field of six rivals, 3-years-old and older, in the $100,000 Rumson set for five furlongs.
“He’s always been a nice horse,” Allard said. “He seemed to tail off a little bit going into the summer in Florida. It looked like he needed a little freshening up, which he got on the farm. The owners decided to send him to me for the cooler weather.
“After he was here for a short period of time he completely turned around.”
Previously trained by Michael “Bo” Yates, Dean Delivers romped to a six-length win in the $104,000 Mr. Prospector on May 27 at Monmouth in his first start for Allard. That was off a two-month layoff.
An easy two-and-a-half-length win in the $125,000 Alapocas Run at Delaware followed before a victory in the $150,000 Frank DeFrancis Memorial Dash at Laurel on July 28.
Overall, Dean Delivers has won eight with eight seconds and two thirds with $727,660 in earnings from 24 career starts.
“If a nice horse is comfortable with the weather, I think they are a lot better,” Allard said. “Bo Yates did a wonderful job with that horse and earned plenty of money with him. But the horse needed a cooler atmosphere, which he got up here. It has really made a difference.
“He has really come into himself. He’s been sharp the whole time I’ve had him and he has run the same way all three races for me.”
The difference Sunday is that the Rumson is brimming with speed with Hurricane J, Five Dreams, Chuck Willis, Downtownchalybrown and Speaking, a multiple stakes winner in state-bred company for trainer Eddie Owens, Jr.
Dean Delivers also has speed, but Allard said he does not necessarily have to be on the lead.
He has enlisted Jamie Rodriguez to ride from post two.
“I wish I was smart enough to predict how the race will play out with all of that speed and where he fits, but with a rider like Jamie Rodriguez, he’ll figure it out when he breaks,” Allard said. “He’s a very fast horse but he does not have to be in front. He can run either way. Jamie will use his judgment.”
A graded stakes winner (he won the Grade 3 Smile Sprint at Gulfstream last summer), Dean Delivers was third in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga a year ago as well.
He has run Beyer Speed Figures in the upper 90s in all three of his starts for Allard.
“He has done everything very well since he has been with me,” he said. “He has been really sharp lately so I expect a good effort from him on Sunday. He is coming into this race super.”
