Another horse racing blog is getting ready to launch soon.  Jack Ireland, the former racing writer from the Wilmington News Journal, will be blogging his thoughts about sports, but he plans to have plenty of racing entries.  His blog can be found at www.jackirelandblog.wordpress.com.

The California invader Blind Luck, the 3-year-old filly champion last year, arrived at Delaware Park at approximately 4 p.m. today for her engagement in the $750,000 Grade II Delaware Handicap.  The Kentucky-bred conditioned by Jerry Hollendorfer is slated to square off against the leading filly and mare in the country this year, Havre de Grace, and the defending Delaware Handicap champion, Life At Ten, in the mile-and-a-quarter filly and mare summer classic this Saturday.

In her final workout for the Delaware Handicap at her home base of Hollywood Park, the 4-year-old daughter Pollard’s Vision went four furlongs handily in :48.20 yesterday.

“We blew her out yesterday and today was just a walk day, so we will probably just jog a little bit tomorrow and stand in the gate,” said trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.  “She shipped fine.  I was not expecting any problems with her shipping because she is a pretty good shipper.”

Five of horse racing’s finest are being honored today with their induction into the Delaware Park Wall of Fame.

The class of 2011 consists of Susan’s Girl, Oscar White, William Hartack, Windfields Farm (E.P. Taylor), and John W. Rooney. Each inductee represents one of the following categories: horse, trainer, jockey, owner, and non-participant, respectively.

“This fifth class of inductees, as the others before, reminds me of the large number of influential people and great horses who have shaped and made history in horse racing that have called Delaware Park and the surrounding areas home at one time or another,” said Michael Vild, senior vice-president and general counsel of Delaware Park. “The recent successes this area has enjoyed in the Triple Crown and many other nationally notable events are not a fluke, but the product of an area with a strong appreciation and long heritage for the sport.  Susan’s Girl was one of the greatest fillies and mares of all time.  Oscar White won significant stakes over a period of three decades.  William Hartack was one of the elite jockeys during the golden era of the sport.  Windfields Farm campaigned and stood Northern Dancer, the most influential sire of our time.  Finally, through his hard work and dedication to the sport and the track, John Rooney contributed to the prosperity of the tradition of Delaware Park.”  

Fred W. Hooper’s Susan’s Girl was a two-time winner of the Delaware Handicap and the filly and mare champion twice. She is one of only five fillies to win the Delaware Handicap twice which she accomplished in 1973 and 1975. In her career Susan’s Girl also won the Kentucky Oaks, Acorn Stakes, Beldame Stakes, Spinster Stakes, Apple Blossom Handicap and the Matchmaker Stakes.  The Florida-bred had a lifetime record of 29 wins, 14 seconds and 11 thirds from 63 starts with earnings of $1,251,667.

Oscar White trained for the prominent racing stable of Walter and Sarah Jeffords for more than three decades.  At Delaware Park, White won a total of 17 stakes, including two Delaware Handicaps, three Delaware Oaks, five Brandywine Stakes and three Sussex Stakes.  He campaigned the champion Kiss Me Kate, who won the Delaware Oaks in 1951 and the Delaware Handicap in 1952.  He won his first Delaware Handicap with Adile in 1950.  In 1952, he was the co-leading trainer at Delaware Park.  Among the other champion horses the native of Pittsville, Maryland, conditioned are One Count, who was Horse of the Year and winner of the Belmont Stakes in 1952; and Pavot, who was the undefeated 2-year-old champion in 1944 and the winner of the Belmont Stakes in 1945.

Known for his exceptional abilities and his passionate desire for victory, William Hartack, rode many of the most accomplished horses during the golden years of horse racing. From the early 1950s until the mid 1970s, the native of Ebensburg, Pennsylvania, rode greats such as Northern Dancer, Tim Tam, Kelso, Majestic Prince, General Duke, Round Table, Carry Back and Iron Leige.  The first jockey to earn $3 million in purses in a year, Hartack won a total of 18 Delaware Park stakes.  In 1957, a season in which he won four stakes, he swept the “Distaff Big Three” series at Delaware Park.  He won both the Delaware Handicap and New Castle Handicap with Princess Turia and the Delaware Oaks with Bayou.  Among the other stakes, he also won the Blue Hen Stakes in 1971 and 1972; the Christiana Stakes in 1954, 1959, and 1970; and the Leonard Richards in 1960.

Windfields Farm, owned by Canadian businessman Edward Plunket Taylor, is best known for campaigning and standing Northern Dancer, who was the most influential sire of the 20^th century.  In 1964, Northern Dancer won the Bluegrass Stakes, Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Queen’s Plate before being crowned the 3-year-old champion of the year.  As a stallion, he stood most of his career at the Maryland division of Windfields Farm in Chesapeake City, Maryland.  Northern Dancer sired 147 stake winners including Nijinsky II, The Ministrel, El Gran Senor, Nureyev, Danzig, and Lyphard.  At Delaware Park, Windfields Farm won a total of six stake races including the 1976 Delaware Oaks with Pacific Princess and the 1960 Leonard Richards Stakes with Victoria Park.  They also won the Blue Hen Stakes twice in 1969 and 1981; the Polly Drummond Stakes in 1970; and the Sussex Stakes in 1960.

John W. Rooney helped lead Delaware Park through the most prosperous times over his 44-year career.  The native of Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, started working at Delaware Park as the assistant treasurer for owner William duPont Jr., president Donald P. Ross and general manager Bryan Field in 1957.  In 1983, he played an instrumental role in the transfer of track ownership to William Rickman.  Rooney retired from Delaware Park in 2001.  In addition to serving as assistant treasurer and vice-president of finance, he was also the treasurer, finance controller, vice-president of racing and a steward at various times during his career at Delaware Park.

The old racetrack adage from long ago says with a "filly or mare go to Delaware," and the connections of the best fillies in the country, arguably the two best horse in training in the nation, are heeding that wisdom as the pair prepares to meet for the sixth time at the site where the rivalry began a year ago.  Havre de Grace, the current leading filly and mare in the nation, and Blind Luck, the 2010 3-year-old filly champion, are slated to meet again at Delaware Park in the Delaware Handicap.  Havre de Grace, locally-owned by Richard Porter's Fox Hill Farm, and California invader Blind Luck, owned by Mark DeDomenico, John Carver, Peter Abruzzo and Jerry Hollendorfer, headline the 74th renewal of the $750,000 Grade II Delaware Handicap this Saturday.  The mile-and-a-quarter filly and mare summer classic has attracted a field of five.

More than prestige, money and bragging rights will be on the line as for the fourth consecutive time the Delaware Handicap has been designated as a "Win and You're In" Breeders' Cup Challenge race, with the winner automatically qualifying for the Ladies' Classic at Churchill Downs on November 4.

The rivalry began when the pair met in the Grade II Delaware Oaks last year, with Blind Luck edging out a nose victory over Havre de Grace.  Since then, they have met four times at venues across the country, with Havre de Grace winning two and Blind Luck winning one. The only time one did not win while facing each other was in the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic at Churchill Downs last year, when Unrivaled Belle won, Blind Luck finished second and Havre de Grace finished third.

Turned over to trainer J. Larry Jones at the end of her campaign last year, Havre de Grace is unbeaten in three starts this year.  In her most recent, the 4-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Saint Liam posted a 2¼ -length triumph in the local prep for the Delaware Handicap, the mile-and-an-eighth $150,000 Grade III Obeah Stakes at Delaware Park on June 11.  Previously, she won a pair of Oaklawn Park stakes.  On March 19, she beat Blind Luck by 3¼ -lengths in the Grade III Azeri Stakes and followed by notching a 3/4-length score in the Grade I Apple Blossom Handicap on April 15.  She has a career record of six wins, three seconds and two thirds from 11 starts, with earnings of $1,371,175.

Havre de Grace's owner Richard Porter would very much like to add the biggest race in his home state to his impressive resume of stake victories.

"It is certainly high on the list and right up there with some of the prestigious races in the country," said Porter.  "Obviously being from Delaware and being the biggest race in Delaware, it is high, very high, on my list.  We thought a few times we had some nice horses that might win it for us, but for some reason or another they just did not work out the way we had hoped.  When I first gave Larry (Jones) the horse, I told him she might be the horse that could win the big one at Delaware.  She is obviously one of the nicest looking horses I have ever had.  As far as talent and accomplishments, I would put her right up there with Hard Spun.  I hope she turns out to be the best horse I have ever had, and I have been fortunate enough to have some nice ones."

The closest Porter has come to winning the Delaware Handicap was with Jostle, who finished fourth as the prohibitive favorite in 2001.

In 2005, Jones brought one horse to Delaware Park and won the Delaware Handicap with Island Sand.  The following year, the native of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, brought all of his horses to Newark, Delaware, where his relationship with Richard Porter and Fox Hill Farm blossomed.  Jones concurs with Porter's assessment of Havre de Grace.

"I even said that before we actually raced her for the first time," said Jones.  "I thought she was showing me signs of being a special horse.  Hard Spun was a very, very nice horse.  Unfortunately, we do not know how good Eight Belles was going to get, but she sure was good.  Proud Spell and Kodiak Kowboy both won Eclipse Awards, and they were both special.  But I think Havre de Grace is as good or better then anything we have ever had."

But Blind Luck stands in the way.  In her most recent, the 4-year-old daughter of Pollard's Vision notched a half-length victory in the Grade I Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park on June 18.  Previously, the Kentucky-bred conditioned by Jerry Hollendorfer posted a half-length triumph in the Grade II La Troiene at Churchill Downs on May 6.  She sports a career record of 11 wins, seven seconds and two thirds from 20 starts, with earnings of $2,829,520.

"This filly usually gives a good effort every time," said trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, who won the Delaware Handicap with Hysterical Lady in 2008.  "I think Larry Jones has done a remarkable job with Havre de Grace this year   But do not forget, there will be more than two horses, so we are not counting anybody out.  But hopefully, we can put on a good show for the fans."

Candy DeBartolo's Life At Ten will be returning to defend her title and gives the race a third million-dollar-plus-purse-earning filly or mare, as the 6-year-old daughter of Malibu Moon has amassed career earnings of $1,184,515  She will also be giving her trainer Todd Pletcher a shot at racing history.  A victory by the Kentucky-bred would give Pletcher his record fifth Delaware Handicap victory, which would break the record of legendary local conditioner Henry Clark who won the race with Endine in 1958 and 1959 and Obeah in 1969 and 1970.  Pletcher won the filly and mare classic with Life at Ten last year, Unbridled Belle in 2007, Fleet Indian in 2006 and Irving's Baby in 2001.

But Life at Ten will need to find her winning ways from 2010 again to have any chance of upsetting the top two.  So far this year, she is winless in three starts with a fourth in her most recent, the Grade I Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park on June 18.

Besides Endine and Obeah, three other horses have won the Delaware Handicap twice.  They are Blessing Angelica (1971 & 1972), Susan’s Girl (1973 & 1975) and Nastique (1988 & 1989).

Mark DeDomenico, John Carver, Peter Abruzzo and Jerry Hollendorfer’s Blind Luck, last year’s champion 3-year-old filly, will be shipping east from her home track of Hollywood Park, California, setting up a possible sixth showdown with the leading filly and mare in the country Havre de Grace in the mile-and-a-quarter $750,000 Grade II Delaware Handicap to be run this Saturday. The draw for the filly and mare summer classic will be on Tuesday, July 12.

“We are going to run,” said trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.  “We hope we can come out and make a good effort.  She has been training very well.  She will be there Wednesday afternoon, and I am planning on arriving on Friday.  We are not shy about going on the road because sometimes you have to do it, but all the guys who run, they all ship if they have too.  We try to do the best thing for our horse, but the purse is big there, and we have never ducked anybody, especially with this filly.  Sometimes we win and sometimes we take our lumps, but we are always in there trying.  You know if you are running for big money, the race is supposed to be tough.”

The rivalry began a little more than year ago when the pair met in the Grade II Delaware Oaks, with Blind Luck edging out a nose victory over Havre de Grace.

“She did, but this a different year so we will see,” said Hollendorfer.

Since then, they have met four times at venues across North America, with Havre de Grace winning two and Blind Luck winning one.  The only time one or the other did not win while facing each other was in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic at Churchill Downs last year, when Unrivaled Belle won, Blind Luck finished second and Havre de Grace finished third.

In her most recent, the 4-year-old daughter of Pollard’s Vision notched a half-length victory in the Grade I Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park on June 18.  Previously, the Kentucky-bred posted a half-length victory in the Grade II La Troiene at Churchill Downs on May 6.  On March 19, she finished second, beaten by 3¼-lengths by Havre de Grace in the Grade III Azeri at Oaklawn Park.  She has a career record of 11 wins, seven seconds and two thirds from 20 starts, with earnings of $2,829,520.

Although his base of operations is in California, Hollendorfer knows his way around Delaware Park.  Not only did he win the Delaware Oaks last year with Blind Luck, but in 2008, he won the Delaware Handicap with Hysterical Lady.

St. John’s River takes Delaware Oaks in final stride

Wilmington, Del., July 9, 2011 — Dede McGehee’s St. John’s River got up in the final stride and notched her first graded stake victory in the $300,000 Grade II Delaware Oaks at Delaware Park today.  With Jose Lezcano aboard, the daughter of Include won by a head.  Strike the Moon with Julian Pimentel, finished second after setting early fractions of :48.71 for the half-mile and 1:13.09 for the three-quarters.  It was another 1 ¾-lengths further back to All for Thee in third, with Jeremy Rose, in third.

St. John’s River, a Kentucky-bred trained by Andrew Leggio, Jr., covered the mile and a sixteenth over a fast track in 1:44.39 and returned $4.00 as the favorite in the field of seven.

“They were going so slow the first part of it I was worried because I did not think they would back up that much,” said winning trainer Andrew Leggio, Jr.  “They did not back that much, but she just kept running on them.  She was the seven horse and she went seven horses wide at the top of the stretch.  I have had two by passes and I thought I was going to need a third.  I thought she was going to win the race, but I was concerned about this short stretch because she does not start getting running until the last eighth of a mile.  With a little she would have won her last two races.  My next stop is the Alabama at Saratoga.”

"She's a really good filly. She won it by herself today," jockey Jose Lezcano said. "I gave her so much to do, but she's a very good filly and she did it."

Since the Delaware Oaks was reinstituted as part of the Delaware Park stakes schedule in 1996, five fillies, including the last three, have won the Delaware Oaks and followed with a victory in the Alabama Stakes.  They are Blind Luck (2010), Careless Jewel (2009), Proud Spell (2008), Island Fashion (2003) and Runup the Colors (1997).  Both Blind Luck and Proud Spell won the year-end Eclipse Award for 3-year-old fillies.

Past notable winners of the Delaware Oaks include: Vagrancy (1942), Gallorette (1945), Miss Request (1948), Next Move (1950), Kiss Me Kate (1951), Parlo (1954), Bayou (1957), Primonetta (1961), Lady Pitt (1966), Dark Mirage (1968), Gallant Bloom (1969), Desert Vixen (1973), Proud Spell (2008), and Blind Luck (2010).

Robert Scarborough’s Cheetah notched her first career Graded stakes victory in the $200,000 Grade III Robert G. Dick Memorial Stakes at Delaware Park today.  With Jose Lezcano aboard, the 4-year-old daughter of Tiger Hill notched a 3 ¾-length in her third start in the North America.  The Great Britain-bred conditioned by Christophe Clement returned $5.80 as the favorite in the field of twelve and covered the mile and three-eighths in 2.13.13 over a firm turf course.

Bubbly Jane, making her first start in over with a year with Kent Desormeaux aboard, finished second.  It was another 1 ½-lengths further back to Dyna Waltz, with Julian Pimentel, in third.  Ainamaa, with Abel Castellano Jr., set early fractions of 1:11.99 for the three-quarters and 1:36.85 for the mile before fading to fourth.

Cheetah improved her career record to four wins from nine starts with earnings of $209,932.

“Mr. Clement told me let her break and rate her where you can,” said winning rider Jose Lezcano.  “In the stretch she had a fabulous kick and she is a very nice filly.  At the quarter-pole everybody was looking a spot, but I had so much horse, I had to wait for the right moment to be clear.  She was very impressive.”

Delaware Park's leading jockey Rosie Napravnik will miss her mount aboard St. John's River, the favorite for the Delaware Oaks this Saturday, due to injury.  Napravnik broke her arm after her mount went down in the eighth race at Delaware Park yesterday.

Trainer Andrew Leggio, Jr., intends to name jockey Jose Lezcano as the replacement rider aboard St. John's River. Lezcano won the Delaware Oaks aboard R Lady Joy in 2005.

Richard Porter would very much like to add his name to the legendary local connections who have won the Delaware Valley’s most prestigious race - the mile-and-a-quarter $750,000 Grade II Delaware Handicap.  The native of Wilmington, Delaware, who owns Fox Hill Farm, has campaigned the likes of Hard Spun, Eight Belles, Round Pond, Old Fashioned, Kodiak Kowboy and Rockport Harbor, but he has never won the filly and mare summer classic.  On July 16, he will have his best shot when Havre de Grace, the current leading filly and mare in the nation, goes postward in the race they have run for nearly 74 years in the state he calls home.

“It is certainly high on the list and right up there with some of the most prestigious races in the country,” said Porter.  “Obviously being from Delaware and being the biggest race in Delaware, it is high, very high, on my list.  We thought a few times we had some nice horses that might win it for us, but for some reason or another they just did not work out the way we had hoped.”

The name of past local winners reads like a litany of who’s who in the history of horse racing and is a testament to the deep roots enjoyed by the sport on the eastern shore of Maryland, in southeastern Pennsylvania and in southern New Jersey and Delaware. 

William duPont’s Foxcatcher Farm, the founder of Delaware Park, won the first Del ‘Cap ever in 1937 with Rosenna and followed with a victory in 1955 with Parlo.  Donald P. Ross’ Brandywine Stable, who campaigned the 1962 Preakness winner Greek Money, won the race in 1944 with Everget and then again in 1966 with Open Fire.  Jane and Harry Lunger’s Christiana Stable, who raced the famed Linkage in the early 1980s and brilliant filly Go For Wand in the early 1990s, won the race a record four times, twice with Endine in 1958 and 1959 and then with the dam of Go For Wand, Obeah, in 1969 and 1970.  Mrs. Allaire duPont’s Bohemia Stable, who campaigned five-time Horse of the Year Kelso (1960 to 1964), notched a Del ‘Cap victory in 1968 with Politely and in 1991 with Crowned.

More recently, Billy Turner, the trainer of the 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, won the race in 1995, when the race only carried a purse of $150,000, with Night Fax and was quoted by the media as saying “this is a race I have always wanted to win,” because of his roots in the area.  H. Graham Motion, this year’s Kentucky Derby winning trainer with Animal Kingdom, won the race in 1997 with Power Play and just missed his second Del ‘Cap score in 2002 when longshot Your Out was nailed on the wire by the favorite Summer Colony. Ramon Dominguez, former five-time leading Delaware Park jockey and current  top rider in New York, won his first Delaware Handicap in 2001 with Irving’s Baby and then followed with his second in 2007 aboard Unbridled Belle.

“I remember the last Delaware Handicap I was in,” said Porter.  “The day before we won the Delaware Oaks with Zonk in 2001.  (Mike) McCarthy rode her, and she paid $70.00.  We had Jostle in the Delaware Handicap, and there was a lot of press that no owner had won both the Oaks and the Del ‘Cap in the same year.  Jostle was the favorite and Jerry Bailey was coming down to ride, so it looked good for us, but Jostle just did not have it that day.”

Havre de Grace, named after the former racetrack on the eastern shore of Maryland, is unbeaten in three starts this year.  Her most recent win came in the local prep for the Delaware Handicap, the Grade III Obeah Stakes on June 11.  Last year, the 4-year-old daughter of Saint Liam posted a record of two wins from six starts and just missed winning the Delaware Oaks when she ran second, beaten by a nose by the eventual 3-year-old filly champion Blind Luck.  In 2009, the Kentucky-bred conditioned by J. Larry Jones, broke her maiden at Delaware Park.  She has a career record of six wins, three seconds and two thirds from 11 starts, with earnings of $1,371,175.

The Delaware Handicap always figured very prominently in Havre de Grace’s 4-year-old campaign.

“Larry (Jones) and I have been talking about the Del ‘Cap all along,” Porter said.  “When I first gave Larry the horse before her 4-year-old season, I told him she might be the horse that could win the big one at Delaware.  She is obviously one of the nicest looking horses I have ever had.  As far as talent and accomplishments, I would put her right up there with Hard Spun.  She might be a better horse then Hard Spun.  I hope she turns out to be the best horse I have ever had, and I have been fortunate enough to have some nice ones.”      

Dede McGehee’s St. John’s River tops a field of seven entered in the $300,000 Grade II Delaware Oaks at Delaware Park this Saturday.  Last year, Blind Luck won the mile-and-a-sixteenth test as part of her 3-year-old champion filly campaign.  In 2008, Proud Spell won the Oaks before winning the year-end award for outstanding 3-year-old filly.

While St. John’s River has not won a stake in her five career outings, the daughter of Include still brings impressive credentials into the Delaware Oaks.  In her most recent, the Kentucky-bred conditioned by Andrew Leggio Jr. finished second beaten a neck in the mile-and-an-eighth Grade I Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 6.  In the Kentucky Oaks, she finished in front of Zazu (third) who followed with a victory in the Grade II Hollywood Oaks.  Previously, St. John’s River finished second beaten a half length in the mile-and-a-sixteenth Grade II Fair Grounds Oaks on March 26.  Her lone career victory came on January 21 when she notched a 4-length triumph in a mile-and-seventy-yard maiden at the Fair Grounds.  She has career earnings of $320,070.

The top local connection in the Delaware Oaks is David Cottle and Smart Angle’s All for Thee.  In her latest, the Kentucky-bred conditioned by Anthony Dutrow posted a 2-length triumph in the mile-and-seventy-yard $75,000 Go For Wand Stakes at Delaware Park on June 4.  Previously, the daughter of Elusive Quality notched a 4-length score in a mile-and-seventy-yard Delaware Park allowance on May 7.  On March 27, she broke her maiden at Oaklawn Park by 6 ½-lengths in a one mile maiden.  She sports a career record of three wins from four starts with earnings of $95,400.

Past notable winners of the Delaware Oaks include: Vagrancy (1942), Gallorette (1945), Miss Request (1948), Next Move (1950), Kiss Me Kate (1951), Parlo (1954), Bayou (1957), Primonetta (1961), Lady Pitt (1966), Dark Mirage (1968), Gallant Bloom (1969), Desert Vixen (1973), Proud Spell (2008), and Blind Luck (2010).

Since the Delaware Oaks was reinstituted as part of the Delaware Park stakes schedule in 1996, five fillies, including the last three, have won the Delaware Oaks and followed with a victory in the Alabama Stakes.  They are Blind Luck (2010), Careless Jewel (2009), Proud Spell (2008), Island Fashion (2003) and Runup the Colors (1997).  Both Blind Luck and Proud Spell won the year-end Eclipse Award for 3-year-old fillies.