She's won two Eclipse awards. She's won two Breeders' Cup races. As impressive as those achievements are, the best may still be ahead of the ultra-talented mare Royal Delta, who absolutely dominated in winning the $750,000 Delaware Handicap (gr. I) at Delaware Park this afternoon by 10 3/4 lengths.
With regular rider Mike Smith aboard, Royal Delta got off to a good start and went straight to the lead, running the opening quarter mile in :24.19 seconds while leading Summer Applause and She's All In by 1 1/2 lengths. Shortly thereafter, Royal Delta began to put on a show.
With Mike Smith barely asking her for any run at all, Royal Delta willingly blitzed the second quarter in :23.31 seconds, which put her five lengths clear of her nearest pursuer. Her third quarter went in an equally impressive :23.93, which extended her lead to seven lengths. At that point, the race was virtually over. Following a mile in 1:36.29, Mike Smith shook the reins at Royal Delta and the mare responded by opening up a few more lengths on her rivals, eventually reaching the wire 10 3/4 lengths in front while stopping the clock in 2:02.04.
It was a performance much more impressive than her victory in the 2012 Delaware Handicap, in which Royal Delta was all-out to win by a neck over Tiz Miz Sue. Her performance today suggests to this writer that Royal Delta is not only ready to shoot for a third straight Eclipse award, but ready to take on the best older males in the country in the $5,000,000 Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) at Santa Anita in November.
Many lengths behind Royal Delta, She's All In out-finished And Why Not for second place, while Centring and Summer Applause completed the order of finish.
Royal Delta is a five-year-old mare by Empire Maker out of Delta Princess, by A.P. Indy. Trained by Bill Mott and owned by Besilu Stables, Royal Delta has now compiled a record of 11-4-1 from 18 starts, with earnings of $4,251,126.
-Keelerman
No comments:
Post a Comment