Havre de Grace wins HOY

For the third straight year, a female was crowned Horse of the year when Fox Hill Farm's Havre de Grace took home top honors Jan. 16 at the annual Eclipse Awards dinner. Earlier, the daughter of Saint Liam had been a near unanimous selection as champion older mare.

The daughter of 2005 Horse of the Year Saint Liam trained by Larry Jones outpolled champion older male Acclamation and champion male turf horse Cape Blanco for North American racing's highest honor.

"She is the perfect racehorse," said Rick Porter, who owns Fox Hill Farm. "She did it her way. She won the big races when it counted."

Like the last two Horse of the Year champions -- Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta -- Havre de Grace scored her most important victory against males. Like Rachel Alexandra, she won Saratoga's Woodward Stakes. She then attempted to emulate Zenyatta's Breeders' Cup Classic victory in 2009, but she could do no better than fourth.

Havre de Grace had spent most of 2010 embroiled in the heated rivalry with her nemesis Blind Luck, with three of their four meetings resulting in photo finishes. Porter then decided to take her from Tony Dutrow and send her to train with Jones. It didn't take Jones long to become enamored with Havre de Grace and she showed how much she had improved when she began 2011 by trouncing Blind Luck by 3 1/4 lengths in the Grade 3 Azeri Stakes before running down Grade 1 winner Switch to win the Apple Blossom Handicap.

She then easily captured Delaware Park's Obeah Stakes as a prep for another rematch with Blind Luck. It was the most anticipated race of the year and lived up to its billing, as Blind Luck withstood a furious stretch duel with Havre de Grace to win by a nose.

Havre de Grace moved forward, winning the Woodward by 1 1/4 lengths before destroying eventual Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic winner and champion 3-year-old filly Royal Delta in the Beldame Stakes.

For the year she won five of seven starts and earned $1,623,000. Out of the Carson City mare Easter Bunnette, Havre de Grace was bred in Kentucky by Nancy Dillman.

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