Horse of the Year, Havre de Grace at Fair Grounds, about to head for her seasonal debut
The five-year-old Kentucky bred mare of Saint Liam out of Easter Bunnette, Havre de Grace is owned by Rick Porter who belongs to the Fox Hill Farms and is trained by Larry Jones.
She topped off her 2011 campaign by winning the Eclipse Award for the Horse of the Year. She stands out to be the third female horse to have won the Horse of the Year consecutively.
In 2010, the Horse of the Year was Zenyatta while in 2009 it was Rachel Alexandra who won the Award.
Havre de Grace reached Fair Grounds on 5th January after already have rested at the Vinery farm in Florida for her post Breeders’ Cup break. She is steadily progressing for her 2012 campaign and is stalled into her winter quarters at Fair Grounds.
“We got up to a mile and quarter in her gallop today,” Jones said Wednesday. “That’s the longest that we’ve gone so far. In a few days we’ll be up to a mile and a half, what we normally do.”
“I think she’ll move along quick from here,” Jones said.
She is not being pushed too much, though the trainer has allowed her to go relatively faster than a gallop a couple of times at Fair Grounds.
The two future targets for Havre de Grace are the New Orleans Ladies Stakes on 17th March at Fair Grounds Race Course over a distance of 1 1/16 mile on dirt and then the Grade 2, New Orleans Handicap on 1st April at Fair Grounds Race
Course, which will be raced over a distance of 1 1/8 miles.
Timed workouts for Havre de Grace are still few weeks away according to the trainer Larry Jones.
Havre de Grace has credited several graded victories against her name but her record with Breeders’ Cup has not been as prolific as the rest of the starts.
On 5th November 2010, she was third in the Grade 1, Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic at Churchill Downs raced over 1 1/8 miles.
Then on 5th November 2011, Havre de Grace was fourth in the Grade 1, Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs over a distance of 1 ¼ miles. This was also the final race of her 2011 season.
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