Havre de Grace settles in at Saratoga

Havre de Grace steps off the van at Saratoga on Wednesday (Photo courtesy of NYRA) Grade 1 heroine HAVRE DE GRACE (Saint Liam), who will take on the boys for the first time in Saturday’s Woodward S. (G1), arrived at Saratoga Race Course shortly before 6 p.m. (EDT) on Wednesday. “We had a very uneventful trip,” trainer Larry Jones said. “It was good coming through New York at this time of day. She’s come in good.” Jones, who personally drove the four-year-old filly to the Spa from his base at Delaware Park, led the filly off the van and let her stretch her legs a bit before going to her stall. Stabled on the main track backstretch, Jones said Havre de Grace would jog after the break on Thursday and might gallop Friday. “We had to alter her training this week due to dear old Irene,” said Jones, referring to the hurricane that significantly dampened the East Coast over this past weekend. “She didn’t get her customary Monday blowout where she gets to ripping and romping and doing her 57s. We had to gallop that day and were lucky to find a place to gallop.

“She did have a little blowout (on Tuesday), galloped out well and seems very
good this morning. We’re going to hope it’s the way we should have been training
her.”

Havre de Grace’s only loss thus far this year came by a nose to Blind Luck
(Pollard’s Vision) in the Delaware H. (G2) on July 16. Her other three starts
this season resulted in victories in the Apple Blossom H. (G1) and Azeri S. (G1)
at Oaklawn Park as well as the Obeah S. (G3) at Delaware.

No worse than third in 12 lifetime starts, Havre de Grace seeks to become
just the second filly to win the Woodward, following in the hoofsteps of Rachel
Alexandra, who captured the 2009 renewal of the race as a three-year-old en
route to a Horse of the Year title. It was with an eye on Horse of the Year
honors that owner Rick Porter decided to send Havre de Grace to the Woodward.

“Obviously, we think we have a chance to be Horse of the Year,” Porter said.
“And after we got beat a nose in the Del ‘Cap, we thought we had to do something
aggressive, either run against Blind Luck again in the Personal Ensign ([G1] or)
take the boys on. We had to do something to get everybody’s attention,
hopefully.”

Havre de Grace, who will leave from post position 6 under Ramon Dominguez,
has been installed as the 8-5 morning-line favorite in the Woodward, in which
she will face seven older males as she receives a three-pound weight concession.

“If you’re a numbers player, you would think she ranks right up there and is
a deserving favorite,” Jones said. “The 1 1/8 miles is a really good distance
for her; 1 1/4 miles stretches her a little bit. She does it, but she starts
getting a little tired at the end. She gets 1 1/8 miles really well. What I
don’t like is that Saratoga is known for being the graveyard of favorites.”