Havre de Grace is a formidable presence in the mile-and-an-eighth $150,000 Grade III Obeah Stakes at Delaware Park this Saturday.  A field of five fillies and mares has been entered in the last local prep for the mile-and-a-quarter $750,000 Grade II Delaware Handicap on July 16.  The top four finishers in the Obeah automatically earn a free nomination to the Delaware Handicap.

Trainer J. Larry Jones has followed the old Delaware Park adage “with a filly and mare go to Delaware”, and has enjoyed success

In 2005, the 54-year-old native of Hopkinsville, Kentucky ran one horse at Delaware Park and won the filly and mare summer classic with Island Sand.  He liked Delaware Park so much; he brought all of his horses to the Stanton-oval the following year.  The rest is history with a bright future.  The history is training Hard Spun and Eight Belles, who were both locally owned by Richard Porter’s Fox Hill Farm.  The future is training the likely favorite for the Delaware Handicap Havre de Grace, who is also owned by the native of Wilmington, Delaware.

On Monday, the 4-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Saint Liam breezed five furlongs at Delaware Park in :57.80.

“Well she is doing okay,” said trainer J. Larry Jones.  “We worked her on Monday and she worked all right.  You know we were not trying to knock her out by any means.  She may have went a little slow.  Other than that, she did fine.”

In her most recent, she posted a ¾-length victory in Grade I Apple Blossom Stakes at Oaklawn Park on April 15.  In her only other outing this year, she notched a 3 ¼-length over the 2010 filly champion Blind Luck in the Grade III Azeri at Oaklawn Park on March 19.

Since the beginning of the year, the Delaware Handicap has been the summer objective and trainer J. Larry Jones is looking forward to using the Obeah Stakes as the prep.

“The game plan is number one knowing it is going to be a long year and number two the primary summer objective is the Delaware Handicap,” Jones said.  “So with that in mind, we want to make sure we have her at her very best for that.  The Obeah is the logical spot to get her ready for that.  Everything is right here at her home, you get a trip over the track and we train here every day.  As far as her needing a race, we think we are right where we want to be.  She is coming off a huge effort in the Apple Blossom and she has been at Delaware Park ever since.  She is coming into this race the way we want her.  We are expecting for her to run her race.”

Last year, she did not win at Delaware Park, but had a pair of solid seconds.  She ran second in the Go for Wand Stakes and then ran second beaten a nose to Blind Luck in the Grade II Delaware Oaks.  She concluded the season with a third in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic at Churchill Downs.

In 2009, Havre de Grace broke her maiden at Delaware Park in her second career start.  She sports a lifetime record of five wins, three seconds and two thirds from ten starts with earnings of $1,263,175.