Up the Backstretch: Royal Delta remains queen of the realm
(Sports Network) – When reigning female champion Royal Delta came up a distant second on June 15 in the Fleur de Lis Stakes at Churchill Downs, many people probably thought there was a chance she, maybe, could be toppled from her throne.
Forget about that idea.
The 5-year-old mare returned to her dominant ways last Saturday at Delaware Park with a second consecutive victory in the 1 1/4-mile Delaware Handicap.
It was a marked difference from last year’s race when she barely held off Tiz Miz Sue. Royal Delta never let any of the four other runners get close enough to her to touch the champion’s tail.
“It looked like, if all things went as it looked on paper, she might be on the lead,” said Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott on Sunday, “but who knows she’s going to open up that kind of lead? The way it appeared yesterday, nobody could get close to her.”
Royal Delta, owned by Besilu Stables, broke sharply from the starting gate and immediately took the lead as the field went under the finish line for the first time.
Up the backstretch, the two-time winner of the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic opened a seven-length advantage after easily picking up the pace.
“She brought her “A” game today,” noted Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith. “She jumped out there, got into stride right away and made every step a winning one. I just cruised around there with her.”
Royal Delta and Smith left no doubt as to who is the best female thoroughbred, if not best overall thoroughbred, in North America. The mare posted a 10 3/4- length victory for her second win of the year.
“That was a great performance by her, and it looked like she was back to her championship form,” Mott said. “She’ll go in the Personal Ensign next. That’s our plan, providing she’s doing well and is healthy.”
The Personal Ensign, at Saratoga on Sunday, Aug. 25, will offer the 5-year-old another opportunity to show last year’s half-length loss to Love and Pride was a fluke. She followed that disappointment with a 9 1/2-length win over It’s Tricky in the Beldame Stakes at Belmont Park.
Royal Delta has shown she is as good as any racehorse currently competing in the United States and Canada. Her only two races against males in the last two Dubai World Cups can be blamed on several factors, but make no mistake she could defeat the best male thoroughbreds in the fashion of Zenyatta, Rachel Alexandra and Havre de Grace.
Categorized in: Horses