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Darlin's Delight gives Breeders Crown a fourth try

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August 27, 2008

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Darlin�s Delight is a Breeders Crown veteran. The venerable 5-year-old daughter of Bettor�s Delight will be making her fourth start in Crown competition, this time vying in the $331,500 Mare Pace on Saturday night.

At ages two and three she finished in the bridesmaid role on both occasions to My Little Dragon, competing both years�2005 and 2006�for $500,000. Last year at four, Darlin�s Delight was fifth to Moving Pictures in the $363,000 Breeders Crown Open Mare Pace.

Trainer Jeff Stafford harnessed the winner of $2,214,378 to a smart, second-place finish in her Breeders Crown elimination on Aug. 22. Driver Yannick Gingras was in the sulky for owners White Birch Farm of New Jersey, and Stafford said all is well with his filly after her latest contest.

�She seems good and is acting normal, which for her, is being in laid-back mode,� Stafford said. �Actually, she�s laid back every day and doesn�t get too over enthused about anything.�

Stafford, 37, maintains a stable of 14 horses at White Birch Farm�s New Jersey facility, and is stabling at Mohawk for the Breeders Crown festivities. To date he�s conditioned 182 winners to $4,051,414 in career earnings.

�We�re at Mohawk this time,� the Camden, N.J.-native revealed. �Usually, we stable at a farm, but most of them have been full up here this summer. We�ve got a friend with a farm with paddocks close by so we give her a lot of paddock time. She�s really out more than she�s in.�

Stafford added that his mare doesn�t require a lot of training and instead prefers to jog and take her time during her morning exercises.

�She gets a lot of jog miles,� Stafford explained. �We might train her light�a very slow mile to get her muscles warm, but usually we don�t train her when she�s racing every week. Sometimes I let her walk for three or more miles and then I�ll jog her. She�s been on this same routine for basically all of her life.

�She�s very laid back and once she gets under the lights she�s all business. She�ll look at things when she�s jogging, just playing around. She�s always feeling good. Warming up and training she always goes free legged. But when she goes to the paddock she knows that it�s time to go to work.

�I can send her out with a 3-year-old kid and she�d be perfect,� Stafford added. �She�s that reliable.� (Breeders Crown)

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