Idiomatic earns Grade 2 victory in the Delaware Handicap

After winning four of her last five, Idiomatic continued her impressive form with a gritty victory over Classy Edition in the Gr.2 Delaware Handicap at Delaware Park on Saturday.

Taken from the Blood Horse, 8th July 2023, by Ali Cetinok:

The four-year-old daughter of Curlin , who was exiting a two and a half-length front-running score in the Gr.3 Shawnee Stakes at Churchill Downs on 3rd June, had her plans derailed at the start when she stumbled badly leaving the gate.

"Right after the break, I didn't think much in my mind," said jockey Florent Geroux. "But the worst you can do is try to rush up the horse and try to make it happen instead of letting it happen."

With Idiomatic behind the pace in fourth, the Todd Pletcher-trained Classy Edition grabbed the early lead. Classy Edition held a narrow advantage over 31-1 longshot Battle Bling  for the majority of the contest as the pair dueled through fractions of :23.77, :48.40, and 1:12.29.

Under a patient ride from Geroux, Idiomatic had advanced her way into contention around the final turn and engaged Classy Edition at the top of the stretch. Those two would battle neck and neck down the lane with Idiomatic ultimately triumphing by a head.

"Honestly I thought I had him measured very easily. Turning for home my filly got a little distracted, started to flop her ears back and forth and started to slow down on me so I had to give her little bit of a reminder," said Geroux. "I felt overall down the stretch I had him measured but my filly was a little bit distracted."

Improving her earnings to $774,490, Idiomatic registered her third stakes victory in the Delaware Handicap. Five for six for the year, her only loss came two starts back to Pass the Champagne  in Belmont's Ruffian Stakes (Gr.2) in May.

"She has been training tremendously in the morning and we have very high hopes for her," said Geroux. "We are hoping, if she stays healthy and keeps on progressing, hopefully, she will be a player in the distaff division in November."

A fourth-generation homebred for Juddmonte Farms, Idiomatic is out of the stakes-winning First Defence  mare Lockdown. The mare captured the Busanda Stakes and was three times Grade 1-placed for Juddmonte. Idiomatic is her first stakes winner.