Delmarvalous heads into Sunday’s $500,000 Battle of the Brandywine for three-year-old pacers at Harrah’s Chester battle tested after wins in the Delvin Miller Adios and

a division of the Oliver Wendell Holmes. Delmarvalous used a pocket trip to beat One More Laugh by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:48.2 in the Holmes a week after a gutsy victory from Post 8 in the Adios.

In the Adios, driver Brian Sears and Delmarvalous set the early fractions of :25.4 and :53.1 before yielding the lead to We Will See at the three-quarter mark, which was reached in 1:20.3. As the field straightened out off the final turn, Delmarvalous battled back through the stretch to win the $500,000 race in 1:49.2.

“He never packs it in and never quits,” trainer George Teague Jr. said. “He showed his character through the lane [in the Adios]. He legitimately earned that race. That was impressive.”

The Adios was Delmarvalous’ first win of the season. He was second in his elimination for the North America Cup in June and fifth in the $1.5 million final. He was beaten just three lengths after a wide trip and came home in :27 seconds, which tied One More Laugh for the fastest last quarter-mile.

“He was next-to-last around the last turn and came scorching home, but completely out of it,” Teague said. “He was only inches away from third and raced really well. I thought it was a good mile.”

Early in the year, Delmarvalous was quick to get to the front. He led at the halfway point in his first three races this season, but hit the board just once. Since then, his ability to relax during the mile has been a benefit.

“In the first part of this year he was a very hot horse at the starting gate and was very difficult to take off the gate and strategically place in a race,” said John Celii, who owns the colt with Teague, Elmer Fannin and Howard Dorfman. “George and Brian have done an outstanding job of getting to relax more and settle in. We decided to race him from behind a few times to use his tactical speed in the second half of the race versus always going those blistering fractions in the first half.

“He has become a much more versatile horse in the last month, as evidenced by his win on the front end in the Adios and sitting in the pocket to win the Oliver Wendell Holmes.”

Last year, Delmarvalous won eight of 11 races and earned $189,348.

“We had high hopes for him,” Celii said. “Now, as a result of George’s and Brian’s efforts, we have a colt that has tremendous speed that can be rated depending on track size, post position and race conditions. We believe Delmarvalous will be a force to be reckoned with for the balance of his three-year-old campaign.”

Delmarvalous will face a deeply talented field in the Battle of the Brandywine. The group includes Meadowlands Pace winner One More Laugh and runner-up Rock N Roll Heaven, North America Cup runner-up We Will See, New Jersey Classic champ BGs Folly, and Hoosier Cup winner World Of Rocknroll.

“I think [Delmarvalous] has shown he can beat some of the better horses,” Teague said. “I think he shows the same talent as a lot of those other horses. He’s definitely going to be a factor [in the Battle of the Brandywine] if he races like he did in his last start. That was pretty good stuff.”

Here is a look at the Battle of the Brandywine field in post position order with listed drivers and trainers:

1. We Will See, Brett Miller, Sam DePinto
2. One More Laugh, Tim Tetrick, Ray Schnittker
3. Delmarvalous, Brian Sears, George Teague Jr.
4. Rock N Roll Heaven, Daniel Dube, Bruce Saunders
5. BGs Folly, Ron Pierce, Sam DePinto
6. World Of Rocknroll, Yannick Gingras, Ron Burke
7. Fred And Ginger, Yannick Gingras, Ron Burke
8. Versado, Yannick Gingras, Ron Burke

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This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.