Royal Delta, class apart in her second Ladies’ Classic triumph
The reigning 3-year-old champion filly, Royal Delta landed the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic at Santa Anita Park on 2 November, 2012, for the second consecutive time, and she is most probably en route to becoming the champion for older mare this year, after landing the 1 1/8 mile event in fine style against the strongest Ladies’ Classic field in a while.
Besilu Stables owned 4-year-old Royal Delta had to put in some tough strides to get the lead after an early scramble, but got things under control with sheer determination to keep her head in front under Breeders’ Cup specialist, Mike Smith.
"Spectacular," Mott said of the Ladies' Classic effort. "She broke sharply and was out on the lead and just ran the race that way. She's a talented mare to be able to run well and win no matter how the race develops.”
It was expected that Questing will vie for an early lead, but she was never in the race after breaking from the gate, and trailed the entire pack on a firm ground with no injury.
"There were no obvious abnormalities; in other words she had no injury to her limbs upon veterinary inspection," said Dr. Wayne McIlwraith. "She'll be taken back to Irvine, and the regular treating veterinarian will examine her."
The undefeated filly, Awesome Feather, who was 10 in 10 prior to the Ladies’ Classic was defeated for the first time in her career, and the Chad Brown trained filly finished sixth under jockey Jeffrey Sanchez.
Steven Asmussen trained, My Miss Aurelia gave Royal Delta a little scare at the end, but Royal Delta was too good in the end and left the challenging filly finishing second.
Include Me Out on the inside ran a big race for Ronald Ellis under Joseph Talamo, but a tired third was all she could conjure.
Javier Castellano and Grace Hall remained solid in the middle of the pack, but unfortunately never contention to threaten the lead, as the duo finished fourth, just before Love and Pride in fifth, Awesome Feather sixth, as Class Included finished seventh and Questing pulled up without completing the race.
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