Nikki My Darling back at best track

Nikki My Darling will be going it alone when she attempts to pull a mild upset Saturday in the $200,000 Lady Jacqueline at Thistledown. She had been entered along with stablemate Fuhriously Kissed, but Fuhriously Kissed will be scratched in favor of a start in the Grade 1, $700,000 Personal Ensign on Aug. 25 at Saratoga, according to owner Ron Paolucci.

The Lady Jacqueline is a 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares. It shares a card with the $75,000 Pay the Man, another 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares but restricted to those bred in Ohio. The Lady Jacqueline drew seven, including Sneaky Betty, who could go favored

one start after running second at 85-1 in the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap.

Trained by Anthony Quartarolo, Nikki My Darling also exits the Delaware Handicap, having finished seventh. The front-runner never got closer than fourth after a poor start in the 1 1/4-mile race July 14.

“She stumbled really, really bad,” said Paolucci, who owns the 4-year-old daughter of Creative Cause with Imaginary Stables.

Nikki My Darling is returning to the Thistledown surface over which she is 3 for 6. She also will be adding blinkers on Saturday.

“She’s been working up a storm at Saratoga,” Paolucci said Thursday. “Anthony put blinkers on her. She has done unbelievable.”

Nikki My Darling had been sick earlier in the year, and Paolucci said he sent her to Saratoga for a change in scenery. He hopes to see her recapture the form that saw her go 6 for 8 last year, including a track-record performance in the Queen City Oaks at 1 1/8 miles at Belterra Park.

“She has absolutely turned the corner,” he said.

Scott Spieth has the mount from post 2.

Sneaky Betty invades from Laurel and will be making her Thistledown debut. She closed from next-to-last for second in the Delaware Handicap, and the Beyer Speed Figure of 90 that she earned is both the best last-race and career number in the Lady Jacqueline.

Dutch Parrot is another who figures prominently. She finished third in the $100,000 Mari Hulman George Stakes on July 14 at Indiana Grand. Prior to that race, she was third in an optional $62,500 claiming route at Churchill Downs.

◗ In the Pay the Man, the front-running 3-year-old Magna Rose will be taking on older rivals after winning the Queen City Oaks in her last start July 22 at Belterra. Her chief rivals include Proper Discretion, who exits an eighth-place finish in the Delaware Handicap, and School Board Prez, who is coming off a last-to-first stakes win at Belterra.