Delaware Park Picks & Predictions — June 13, 2026
It's a beautiful Saturday at Delaware Park — clear skies, 83°F, and a 12-race card loaded with stakes action. The kind of day where you want to be planted in front of the screens early and stay through the final furlong. Conditions are about as good as it gets in the mid-Atlantic summer, and a fast, consistent dirt surface should reward horses with legitimate back class.
The headline is a full slate of six stakes races spanning Races 6 through 11, mixing up the surfaces and distances in ways that create some genuinely tricky pace scenarios. We've got a six-furlong sprint on dirt, a stamina test at a mile and a half on turf, and everything in between. There's something for every handicapping style today.
TrackWiz has rated all 12 races and our top picks range from morning-line favorites pressing short prices to some legitimate longshot angles — including a 12/1 shot in Race 7 that our model is quietly excited about. Let's break it down.
Best Bets
Race 1
Starter Optional Claiming · 1 mi · Dirt
A massive TrackWiz rating gap separates the morning-line favorite from the rest of the field in this one-mile Starter Optional Claiming opener — but with a 6/5 price, you're paying for that edge.
Golden Eib Micrphn (6) is the clear class of this field by TrackWiz metrics, posting an 89.71 rating that dwarfs the next-closest competitor by more than 30 points. Trainer Jamie Ness puts this one out at 6/5 on the morning line, and that confidence is justified — a 32% career win rate is genuinely strong at this level. The one-mile dirt distance sets up fine for a horse of this caliber in a starter optional claiming field, and jockey Yedsit Hazlewood inherits a live mount. Bet this as your key horse in exactas, but don't expect big win returns at that price.
Sister Supream (2) comes in with a solid 17% career win rate and the second-highest TrackWiz rating in the field at 57.72. At 4/1 on the morning line, she offers real value as a place horse in a race where the favorite figures to draw most of the money. Jockey Cipriano Gil keeps the ride and this one should be involved from the top of the lane.
Ade (1) is the longshot of the trio at 10/1, but a 53.48 TrackWiz rating and a rail post make this one a reasonable show hedge in an eight-horse field. The 9% career win rate is modest, but in a starter optional claimer at a mile, pace scenarios can shake out in unexpected ways and Ade draws the inside for Julio A. Hernandez.
Race 2
Claiming · 6 fur · Dirt
The top two morning-line choices in this six-furlong dirt claimer are separated by less than five TrackWiz rating points, setting up a genuine speed duel that should benefit closers and exacta players alike.
Nit Witness (2) earns the top TrackWiz rating in the field at 89.12 and goes postward at 8/5 — a price that reflects a real contender without being totally unplayable. Trainer Ernesto Padilla-Preciado sends this one out with jockey Abner Adorno, and the six-furlong dirt distance is right in the wheelhouse of this profile. The 15% career win rate is the one caveat, but raw rating dominance at the claiming level tends to overcome modest historical win percentages.
Baha Secret (1) is essentially the co-favorite here at 2/1 with an 84.98 TrackWiz rating — nearly as strong as the top pick and with a better 30% career win rate. Trainer Mauricio Nunez has a horse ready to fire, and Emanuel Rosario gives this one a live chance to land on the board. If there's any stumble from Nit Witness at the break, Baha Secret is the horse to beat.
Ritabook (4) at 5/1 is the logical third wheel here with a 65.45 TrackWiz rating that puts her a tier below the top two but well clear of the rest. An 18% career win rate and the best average speed figure of the morning-line contenders at 55 makes Ritabook a reasonable show play and an intriguing third leg of exactas and trifectas. Julio A. Hernandez takes the mount.
Race 3
Starter Optional Claiming · 1 mi · Dirt
Jamie Ness runs out a one-two punch in this one-mile Starter Optional Claimer, with both McCrakens Ghost and Mad Banker posting elite ratings — but the barn's internal priority and the morning line tell an interesting story about which one they like more.
McCrakens Ghost (6) tops our TrackWiz ratings in this field at 88.54 and goes off at 2/1, which makes him the value play of the two Ness entrants despite being longer on the morning line. Jockey Yedsit Hazlewood gets the call here, and the one-mile dirt setup gives a horse with a 17% career win rate plenty of ground to work with. When a trainer angles two horses in the same race, the one with the higher rating and a positive pace scenario at a mile is worth taking seriously.
Mad Banker (7) grabs the marquee rider with Irad Ortiz, Jr. in the irons — and in stakes-quality jockey booking, that's a signal worth noting. His 81.34 TrackWiz rating and 20% career win rate are strong, and the 8/5 morning line means the market agrees he's live. He's our place pick because the top-rated stablemate has a slightly better overall profile, but Mad Banker finishing second wouldn't surprise anyone.
Mr. Ripple (2) brings a 68.89 TrackWiz rating and an impressive 27% career win rate that ranks among the best in this field on that measure alone. At 9/2 on the morning line, trainer Timothy C. Kreiser and jockey Martin Chuan team up with a horse that has consistently shown up at this level. He's the natural third choice and a smart piece in the trifecta.
Our three free best bets cover the early part of the card, and there's a common thread worth noting: all three are on the dirt at a mile or shorter, meaning pace and early position figure heavily. Golden Eib Micrphn (Race 1, 6/5 ML) draws our top rating of 89.71 on the card's opening mile — a strong number for a Starter Optional Claiming field. Nit Witness (Race 2) gets the nod in the six-furlong sprint at 8/5, where we like the pace setup. And McCrakens Ghost (Race 3) rounds out the free plays at 2/1 in another one-mile SOC, where class and consistency point to a forward effort.
With the track playing fast under sunny, dry conditions, don't be surprised if early speed holds up better than usual in these shorter dirt routes. That angle favors each of our free picks, and it's something to carry into the rest of your handicapping today.
Full Card Analysis
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Delaware Park is serving up a 12-race card with real teeth today — six stakes, two surfaces, and enough price plays to keep things interesting from first post to last. Golden Eib Micrphn, Nit Witness, and McCrakens Ghost are our free best bets to get you started. For pace projections, exotic strategies, and the full breakdown on every race including our 12/1 live longshot in Race 7, the complete analysis is waiting for subscribers. Good luck out there — and as always, bet what you can afford to lose.