Value Plays for the Orleans Stakes at Delta Downs

A well-matched field of 10 fillies and mares will speed five-eighths on the Delta Downs dirt in Friday’s $75,000 Orleans S. The affair lacks a standout and seems like a nice spot to search for some prices in the evening dash. 

Orleans Value Plays

• $2 exacta box 1,2,5,8 ($24)
• $.50-cent trifecta 1,5 with 1,2,5,8 with all ($24)

#1 Beyond Awesome (12-1) ships in from Arizona where the four-year-old has compiled an 11-7-1-2 mark for conditioner Justin Evans. The daughter of Boos has been mostly dominant while winning five of her last six events, and has the speed to avoid being left early on from the inside post draw in the heat. She has been training here to acclimate to her surroundings and has to be given a chance in her local bow with regular rider Luis Negron coming in to ride. 

#5 Tiz Magic (8-1) won or placed in each of her seven attempts in 2023, with a pair of stakes placings among those, and she comes off of a win when moved to the dirt at Remington Park last time out. The Karen Jacks charge has yet to run on the local surface, but she owns four tallies at the distance and possesses the obvious class needed to be a major threat in the race. Iram Diego will be in the stirrups. 

I expect the odds on the Allen Landry-conditioned #8 Won Day (4-1) to drift up at post time and will surely include the mare who shows a 12-5-4-1 mark at Delta. By Time Bandit, the five-year-old has come out on top in two of her last three races since coming off the long layoff and has the versatility to win from up close, or from off of the early tempo, too. The Cajun-bred chestnut might sit a perfect voyage to the top of the lane at a fair number. 

#2 Blessed Assurance (6-1) has put in strong late rallies to go close in three consecutive outings on the strip and is an obvious top-three contender in my opinion. This Philip Dison trainee sports a 6-2-3-1 local mark, and the four-year-old daughter of Zong will receive a swift pace to run at after saving ground in the early going under Louis Stokes. The gray wouldn’t be a surprise with clear sailing in this spot.