While Saratoga now has the Coaching Club American Oaks as a prep for the Alabama, the hottest prep for the mile and quarter race the past 9 years has been the Delaware Oaks. Since 2003, 4 DE Oaks winners have gone onto Alabama glory including 3yo Champions Proud Spell and Blind Luck (the latter defeating an upstart in the 2010 edition and the former holding off a charge of a future Derby winning trainer). Lets take a look at some of the past winners:
1950- Next Move (Bull Lea): Defeated Busanda and Include to win the race. The Champion 3yo filly in 1950 and Champion Older Female in 1951, she also won the Beldame twice. As a broodmare, her best foal was stakes winner Good Move (Native Dancer).
1957- Bayou (Hill Prince): A year after her sister Levee (Hill Prince) (who would grow to be the dam of Shuvee) was second in the race, she was able to get some redemption for her. Bayou also won the Acorn and Gazelle to be named 1957 3yo Champion Filly. Her daughter Batteur (Bold Ruler) would finish 3rd in the DE Oaks in 1963.
1979- It's in the Air (Mr. Prospector): The 1978 2yo filly defeated future Delaware Handicap winner Jameela in this race. As a 4yo she would win the Vanity. She would produce stakes winner Air Dancer (Northern Dancer).
2003- Island Fashion (Petionville): Defeated Awesome Humor in the race, she would then to go onto deny Spoken Fur the Triple Tiara when she and Awesome Humor went 1-2 once again in the Alabama. (In a little bit of twist of fate, Island Fashioned's trainer for the Alabama was Barclay Tagg and Spoken Fur was trained by Bobby Frankel. 2 months before Frankel and Empire Maker had denied Tagg and Funny Cide the Triple Crown in the Belmont.) Island Fashion would go onto win the Santa Monica twice and even finished 2nd in the Santa Anita Handicap against the boys. She has been in Japan for the past few years.
2008- Proud Spell (Proud Citizen): Only months after winning the Kentucky Oaks and finishing 2nd in the Derby with Eight Belles, her trainer Larry Jones and jockey Gabe Saez needed a pickme up. That ment returning home to DE where she would not be denied a win over African Violet and She's All Eltish. I was there that day and other then the 2011 DelCap (whose winner I'm going to be talking about next), I had never heard the crowd cheer as loud as they did for when Proud Spell and Gabe returned to the winners circle. She would get revenge on Music Note who had defeated her in the Mother Goose by winning the Alabama. That was more then enough to hold off her late stablemate for 3yo honors. Her first foal is a 2yo named Indian Spell.
2010- Blind Luck (Pollard's Vision): The Oaks winner was coming off a bad start in the Hollywood Oaks. She would run down an upstart by the name of Havre de Grace on a muddy track to win by a short head. Thus a rivalry was born. Those two would meet again in the Alabama where they finished 1-2. Grace would get Clover's number in the Cotillion, but a runner up finish in the LC Classic sealed the Championship honors for her. They would meet just twice as 4yo's splitting with Grace winning the Azeri, and Clover winning possibly the greatest Delaware Handicap ever beating the future Horse of the Year by a nose. Blind Luck will throw her first foal next year by Bernardini.
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