Havre De Grace Wins Woodward and Joins Horse of the Year Talks

The decade of mare domination continued on Saturday when Havre de Grace took on the boys and beat them, stepping into the talks for Horse of the Year.

Havre de Grace stepped into the hoof prints of Rachel Alexandra’s 2009 Woodward by winning the race against the boys and she may have been more impressive than the 2009 Horse of the Year in this win.

After sitting behind the leaders for most of the race, Havre de Grace was asked to take off around the far turn and did everything right to first pass Rule, who had led the whole race, and then to hold off Flat Out, who was the second choice behind the filly.

While Grace did get some encouragement down the lane, the race looked easy enough for her as she crossed the wire 1 1/4 lengths in front of Flat Out.

Trainer Larry Jones, who returned to racing last November after retiring in 2009, knew they had the race after he saw the fractions.

"When I saw the pace fractions and she had a clear path, (I knew) it was her race," Jones told Bloodhorse.com.

This win is her fourth of the year, with her lone loss coming to Blind Luck last time out in the Delaware Handicap. Her next start looks to be against females in the G1 Beldame, but her connections still haven’t decided if the Breeder’s Cup Ladies Classic or the Breeder’s Cup Classic will be her ultimate goal.

An added bonus for her connections, who are eying the Eclipse this year, is that with this won, Grace has stepped into Horse of the Year talks.

If Havre de Grace also takes on the males in the Classic and wins (something that could happen given the males this year), there’s little doubt that she’ll take home both Older Female and Horse of the Year honors.