Mississippi Delta right back for the Buffalo Trace Franklin County
Jackpot Ranch and Mike Rutherford’s Mississippi Delta, who finished tenth in Saturday’s First Lady (G1) going a mile, headlines a field of 12 plus four also-eligibles entered Tuesday for the 20th running of the $100,000 Buffalo Trace Franklin County (G3) for fillies and mares going 5½ furlongs on the turf Friday.
Trained by Mark Casse, Mississippi Delta won the $350,000 Kentucky Downs Ladies Sprint as the favorite going 6½ furlongs in her start before the First Lady.
Florent Geroux, who was aboard for the victory at Kentucky Downs, has the mount Friday and will break from post position three.
Top challengers to Mississippi Delta include Pewter Stable and Armand Delaperriere’s Everything Lovely, runner-up in the $200,000 Turf Amazon at Parx in her most recent start, and the 1-2 finishers from Saratoga’s Smart N Fancy Stakes: Stuart Janney III’s Fair Point and Jack Swain III’s Miss Ella.
The field for the Buffalo Trace Franklin County with riders and weights from the inside is: Touch of Bling (Ricardo Santana Jr., 118 pounds), Late Spring (Corey Lanerie, 120), Mississippi Delta (Geroux, 120), Scatter Gun (Brian Hernandez Jr., 120), My Year Is a Day (FR) (Mitchell Murrill, 120), Everything Lovely (Joe Bravo, 120), Smoke Signals (James Graham, 120), Melaleuca (Robby Albarado, 120), Miss Ella (Joel Rosario, 120), Boom Bam Bing (Colby Hernandez, 118), Fair Point (Jose Ortiz, 120) and Full Tap (Julien Leparoux, 120). Also-eligible: Xoxo (Julien Leparoux, 120), Pin Up Gal (Rolando Aragon, 120), Bibby (Robby Albarado, 120) and Tesalina (CHI) (Jose Valdivia Jr., 120).
Source: Keeneland