Vanity International Handicap 2011 - Blind Luck v Havre de Grace- Biggest race of the summer
Foaled in 20 April, 2007 the four year old chestnut filly, Blind Luck, has recently captured the Vanity International Handicap on 18 June where she came in from the last position and zipped through the track to claim her sixth Vanity Handicap.
The year 2011 has been a good year for Blind Luck and her connections. With two classical wins at Vanity Handicap and also coming from a winless streak of five races she buckled up to claim the La Troienne Stakes on 6 May and renewed her confidence with her mount G K Gomez.
Blind Luck’s emphatic victory in the La Troienne Stakes reminded people what she is all about, despite a bad stumble in the beginning of the race she came back strong to take on rival Unrivaled Belle, who sadly retired this month because of a pre-race injury she incurred, which ended her career.
Blind Luck over took her rival in the last seconds of the game, stride to stride she managed to summon enough energy at the end to edge past Unrivaled Belle and win the La Troienne Stakes.
La Troienne Stakes was her fifth win after as many starts and she finished second twice in La Canada Stakes and El Encino Stakes. Blind Luck’s four year old debut was much anticipated and she was expected to do even better after her two and three year old debut but just couldn’t do enough when she finished second in the El Encino Stakes.
Falling second to Always a Princess in the El Encino Stakes, the Bob Baffert trained four year old chestnut filly, again proved to be a thorn in Blind Luck’s side in the La Canada Stakes where she beat Blind Luck again in an agonizingly close race in, which Blind Luck finished second.
But Blind Luck’s true rival proved to be Havre de Grace. Blind Luck has her leg over Havre de Grace up till now with a score card of 3 to 2. Three wins belonging to Blind Luck and two to Havre De Grace and another match up would be fascinating, and, surely trainer J Larry Jones would be looking forward to even the score chart.
On the other hand, Blind Luck’s trainer, Jerry Hollendorfer, who will probably take his filly to Del Mar for the Clement Hirsch Stakes in August, might take a detour to meet Blind Luck’s rival Havre de Grace, in a much bigger purse, of $750,000, in the Delaware Handicap on 16 July.
The match-up surely encompasses all anticipation, especially when Havre de Grace is unbeaten in her last three runs and looks all set to take on Blind Luck, who is also unbeaten in her last two runs, the leading two fillies of the country will have met once this year in the Azeri Stakes where Havre de Grace beat Blind Luck to get her tally up to 2 wins against Blind Luck.
Definitely the biggest race of the summer and the sparks will fly in this much anticipated clash of the champions.
Tags: