Havre de Grace and Blind Luck to lock horns for the third time this year in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign at Saratoga
One of the most compelling rivalries between Blind Luck and Havre de Grace will likely take another high in the $300,000 Grade 1 Personal Ensign at Saratoga on 28 August, 2011, as the Saratoga clash remains a realistic possibility for the two fillies to
meet again.
Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer for owner Mark Dedomenico, the 4-year-old filly Blind Luck is on course for the 1 ¼ mile event and the trainer re-affirmed the possibility that the Personal Ensign is very much on the radar.
Last time around when the two rivals met at Saratoga, it was on 21 August, 2010, in the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes, and Blind Luck edged away from the lot to defeat her closest rivals Havre de Grace by a mere neck to win the Saratoga fixture back in 2010.
The race was run on dirt, over at a distance of 1 ¼ miles and Blind Luck was ridden by Joel Rosario, and the pair completed the distance in 2 minutes and 3.89 seconds.
This year the rivalry has taken a higher level as the two fillies have come head to head twice and they have won a piece.
Their first clash of the year 2011 came in March in the Grade 3 Azeri Stakes at Oaklawn Park over at a distance of 1 1/16 miles on dirt on 19 March, 2011.
R Dominguez rode Havre de Grace and got her into crucial positions and made the most of the fillies ability to run faster under pressure, especially when she is up against her foe Blind Luck.
The pair covered the distance in 1 minute and 42.02 seconds, defeating two good fillies that finished on the money, Blind Luck and Absinthe Minded.
The second clash of the year was the most recent one at Delaware racecourse, where the fillies contested over at the distance of 1 ¼ miles over dirt in the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap on 16 July, 2011.
Havre de Grace under R Dominguez jumped out on the front of the lot, and towed the rest of the field for a good 2 to 3 furlongs. Garrett Gomez kept Blind Luck off the pace in the beginning and tracked Life at Ten and Havre de Grace.
Garrett took Blind Luck under a strong drive in the stretch and, the filly responded in champion like manner as she screamed past her opponents to meet her closest rival of them all Havre de Grace.
In the lead, Havre de Grace wasn’t ready to give up her lead, but Blind Luck was adamant on matching strides with the filly and she did manage to edge out by a neck to win the race in emphatic fashion.
The Personal Ensign will be a mouth watering clash, and there is no doubt that the future encounter will be as interesting and riveting as the previous ones.
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