Led by 2011 Horse of the Year Havre de Grace, a number of horse
racing’s newest champions turned in outstanding performances on The New
York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) circuit en route to being honored with
Eclipse Awards Monday night in Beverly Hills, Calif.
At Saratoga Race Course, Havre de Grace, who became the third straight
female to win Horse of the Year honors, joined
2009’s Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra as the only fillies to ever
beat males in the Grade 1 Woodward. Trained by Larry Jones for Rick Porter’s
Fox Hill Farms, Havre de Grace followed her historic win with a dominating
performance in the Grade 1 Beldame Invitational at Belmont Park.
The 4-year-old Havre de Grace also won the Eclipse as the champion
Older Female. Her rider, three-time NYRA champion Ramon Dominguez, won the Eclipse for the second straight year
as the nation’s champion Jockey, defeating fellow New York regulars John
Velazquez and Javier Castellano.
Earlier Monday, Havre de Grace’s victory in the Woodward was
voted by fans as NYRA’s “Race of the Year.”
Saratoga
was the setting for a memorable performance as well from Three-Year-Old Filly
champion Royal Delta, whose
dramatic 5 ½-length victory in the Grade 1 TVG Alabama ended It’s
Tricky’s quest to sweep the TVG Triple Tiara. Subsequently second to
Havre de Grace in the Beldame, Royal Delta went on to win the Breeders’
Cup Ladies’ Classic for Hall of Famer Bill
Mott.
The New York-based Mott, who also saddled 2010 Belmont Stakes winner
Drosselmeyer to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, won the Eclipse as
the nation’s top trainer.
The undefeated My Miss Aurelia,
voted the nation’s champion Two-Year-Old Filly, launched her juvenile
campaign at the Spa, winning her debut on July 22 and returning to post a
hard-fought victory in the Grade 2 Adirondack. Owned by Stonestreet Stable and
George Bolton, she next swept to a 5 ½-length victory in the Grade 1 Frizette
at Belmont prior
to her win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.
Champion Male Turf Horse Cape Blanco
criss-crossed the Atlantic to take two of Belmont Park’s most prestigious
grass races, the Grade 1 Man o’ War in July and the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch
Turf Classic Invitational in October, while champion Female Turf champion Stacelita, making her third start in the
United States for owner Martin Schwartz and trainer Chad Brown, won Belmont’s
prestigious Flower Bowl Invitational at Belmont for her second American Grade 1
victory.