Royal Delta back in training as she eyes the Dubai World Cup
The likely champion 3-year-old female, now newly turned 4, Royal Delta, is slowly making progress towards starting her 2012 campaign, and the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic winner will kick off things in the New Year with a start in the Group 1, $10
million Dubai World Cup at Meydan on 31 March, 2012.
Besilu Stables owned 4-year-old filly, Royal Delta, had her first official work on 10 January, 2012, at Payson Park Training Centre in Florida, where the Bill Mott trained filly worked three easy paced furlongs in 36 seconds under the watchful eye of her
trainer.
The Kentucky bred daughter of Empire Maker, out of mare Delta Princess by A. P. Indy, Royal Delta had a 2011 to remember for, when she bagged four out of seven starts last year, including the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico, at about 1 1/8 mile on dirt.
She rolled in a placed finish in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga, the worst finish in the entire season for Royal Delta, however, she was shaken up to finish first in the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes, which she nailed despite taking on a solid
field.
Havre de Grace showed Royal Delta how life is against the big players in the Grade 1 Beldame Stakes, when the awesome filly romped past Royal Delta in the deep stretch to claim the 1 1/8 mile event at Belmont Park.
Maybe the little set back at Belmont Park was all Royal Delta needed to pull it together in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic, as she bolted past her opponents to claim the most important race of her sophomore season, and the one that will likely
win her the Eclipse Award.
“It’s good for me and everyone else in the barn,” Mott said. “The people that were able to work around her before are excited to have her back; it’s just good for the morale of the stable. It gives us all something to look forward to this year. It’s a new
challenge for us this year to keep things going.”
Her ultimate goal right now is to bag the world’s richest race at Meydan, but Mott is skeptical about it and at the same time knows that this will be a great opportunity for the filly to target the big races in the first half of the season.
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