10 QUESTIONS FOR THE TRAINERS OF

BLIND LUCK AND HAVRE DE GRACE

    
 

THE UNDISPUTED BEST SPORTS RIVALRY IN 2011...

  
 

...AND THE GREATEST
FEMALE RIVALRY
IN THE HISTORY OF
THOROUGHBRED RACING

Havre de Grace

 
 
                      No. 1 vs No. 2    West Coast vs East Coast
  
                 Horse Racing's version of Ali vs. Frazier     
 
BLIND LUCK        
Blind Luck
VS

Havre de Grace
HAVRE de GRACE
 
 
     
 
 

Jerry Hollendorfer

 

Larry Jones

 
2011 Record: (674-143-137-111)
2011 Earnings: $4,785,154
2011 Win %: 21%
In-The-Money %: 58%       
  		2011 Record: (147-30-30-21)
2011 Earnings: $2,036,752
2011 Win %: 20%
In-The-Money %: 55%          
 
 
  Hollendorfer  
  1. How does it feel to be part of arguably the greatest female rivalry in the history of Thoroughbred racing?  
     
  I'm just doing business as normal, me and my partners. People are calling it a rivalry but we really didn't have anything to do with it- just that they [Blind Luck and Havre de Grace] are in the same race. That's fine with us. It's nice to have something like that which is good for the racing fans.  
 
   
  2. Blind Luck has won 6 of 9 races for which she traveled across the country and won only 5 of 11 starts at home in California. How do you explain this?  
     
  Sometimes the sequences of races don't come down the way you want it. Last year our goal was the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic and we got there but you need the means to get there.  
 
 
  3. Rick Porter has publicly proclaimed that if the purse for the Aug. 28 Personal Ensign Stakes [gr. I, purse $300,000], a 1 1/4-mile event at Saratoga the day after the Travers, is doubled to $600,000, "the match is on." If the purse is doubled, would you accept this challenge and bring Blind Luck to Saratoga for the 7th matchup between these fillies?   
      
  We are willing to go, we are looking at our options including the Pacific Classic [$1 million, Aug. 28 at Del Mar]. It's not my first preference to run against colts but my owners are all for it to nominate and that's what we're going to do. Obviously if we thought we can compete by walking right out of our back door, we'd rather do that than fly up to Saratoga.  
 
 
  3a. Is the Woodward under consideration?  
      
  No, the Woodward is not under consideration.      
 
 
  4. In the six matchups to date between Blind Luck and Havre de Grace, all but one resulted in the two fillies being separated by a length or less. In March, Blind Luck lost to Havre de Grace in the Grade III Azeri at Oaklawn Park by 3 1/4- lengths. What happened that day?  
          
  I would say we were beaten fair and square. The track was very speed biased. Bob Baffert ran a colt that day that set the track record. I don't think the track was to her liking and I don't think she was 100 percent, maybe 95 percent and she got better after that race and her record shows that. She didn't run good at Santa Anita - we didn't run badly but we didn't run lights out there or at Oaklawn Park. We were beaten but when you are running in those types of races you can't expect to win every one of them. We want to win every one of them and we try to win every one of them but we didn't win every one of them. I would like to add, that when she was beaten the first part of the year, some people started saying she's not the same. We never lost confidence in her and we always had great faith in her and she came back around and showed us what she is really made of.  
 
 
  5. The controversy over Havre de Grace being assigned to carry two pounds more than Blind Luck [124-122] in their last race, the Delaware Handicap, which was won by Blind Luck by a nose, continues to be discussed and debated in the media. What do you make of it?  
     
  I run in races I think I have a chance to win. We're not going to have a gun fight or a showdown anything like that as far as I'm concerned. If anyone wants to be that way, I don't mind either. I'll go along with it. I'm just running in the races were I think we have a chance to win and I've plotted out some races to look at including the Personal Ensign and we will go on and look at them and if Havre de Grace is in one of them like she was at Delaware or Oaklawn in the Azeri we're not afraid to go and take our chances. Last year we ran in the Cotillion and had to give up 10 pounds to do that. We needed to do that [run in the race] to prepare for the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic. I'm happy to be in a rivalry. I haven't talked to Larry Jones that much and sure we matched up a few times and it's gone either this way or that way and it's been a lot of fun. The fans like it and the reason why I think they like it is that they voted Blind Luck and Havre de Grace the first two horses in the country popularity- wise. The fans like it a lot.  
 
 
  6. Did the two pounds in your estimation make a big difference?  
     
  Let me ask you this...Do you think it was a big difference that I carried 10 more pounds in the Cotillion? It's a yes or no answer. Weight always makes a big difference. It always has in horse racing and that's why everybody yells about it. If Larry Jones and Mr. Porter say they were unfairly weighted in the Delaware Handicap I sincerely think they believe that. I didn't think the weights were unfair because at that time she [Havre de Grace] was considered the best horse in the country and we were flying in to their home court and she was undefeated this year and that is why the racing secretary went for the two pounds. I will say this, I did not ask for two pounds. The secretary weighted them, not me. Does it [weight] make a difference? It always makes a difference even if only psychologically. I never asked for two pounds. If they had given me four pounds, I would have been happier. If Larry could get weight off of a horse, he is going to take it.  
 
 
  7. What would you say is Blind Luck's best distance?  
     
  I think she runs all of them pretty good. A mile and an eighth and a mile and a quarter are her best distances.  
 
 
  8. Can you describe your training style and who was your mentor?  
     
  I worked for some good guys - I worked for Jerry Fanning. Trainers are not known for teaching, but you have to observe and pay attention - no one is going to tell you anything. That is how I learned the game. You learn a lot from your owners because you are dealing with very successful people and they have very successful ideas about how to do things so you pay attention to them too and learn from them.  
 
 
  9. What do you admire about trainer Larry Jones?  
     
  Everybody knows that Larry Jones is a great horse trainer. He gallops his own horses, he has a great mare and good horses and he knows when he has a good horse. He has had Kentucky Derby horses and he has a good owner. That tells you the story right there.  
 
 		  
  10. On August 12th, you will be inducted in Racing's Hall of Fame in honor of your storied career. Can you put into words what this achievement means to you?   
     
  This is something you can never expect and I'm happy that I've achieved enough that people thought that I should be in there. I'm very humbled and honored to stand in there with many people I've admired along the way when I was coming up.  
   
 
   Jones  
  1. How does it feel to be part of arguably the greatest female rivalry in the history of Thoroughbred Racing?  
     
  It feels great, and it's a great thing for the sport. The rivalry is talked about daily down here in Delaware. I guess it's just my luck that whenever I seem to have a really good horse, someone else has one that's really good at the same time.  
 
 
  2. Rick Porter has publicly proclaimed that if the purse for the Aug. 28 Personal Ensign Stakes [gr. I, purse $300,000], is doubled to $600,000 "the match is on." Have either Rick or yourself heard anything to suggest that the purse will be doubled?  
     
  I have not had my ear to the ground on this. I leave that to Rick. I just let Rick know how the horse is doing, and he lets me know where we might be pointing.  
 
 
  3. Can you tell us something about Havre de Grace that we don't know?  
     
  Just that she's acting like she's really ready to run again. We raced her sparingly early in the year, knowing that we'd probably be getting busy later in the year.  
 
 
  4. The controversy over Havre de Grace being assigned to carry two pounds more than Blind Luck (124-122) in their last race, the Delaware Handicap, which was won by Blind Luck by a nose, continues to be discussed and debated in the media. What do you make of it?  
     
  I feel strongly about this issue. I've recently spoken to many experienced racing secretaries all across the country, and they can't believe our horse was giving Blind Luck weight last time. A couple of people have come up to me and said "Come on, Larry, weight doesn't really matter." Excuse me? We've been assigning weight to horses for 100 years. I guess we didn't know what we were doing all that time. To me, the two pound difference wasn't fair. I didn't want to get weight from Blind Luck-I just thought it should be even. I feel like I was held hostage because we accepted the weight to make the race go. Everyone knew we had been pointing to this race for a long time and weren't going anywhere.  
 
 
  5. What would you say is Havre de Grace's best distance?  
     
  Maybe a mile and one-eighth. But as long as she's going two turns, she's fine anywhere from a mile or mile and a sixteenth right up to a mile and a quarter.  
 
 		  
  6. You have had particular success training fillies and mares, is there a difference in training fillies vs. colts?  
     
  Probably a little. It seems like I have to do a little more with the colts-train them a little harder-to get them ready. Whereas with the girls, I can baby them a little bit and they still perform well.  
 
 
  7. Can you describe your training style and who was your mentor?  
     
  I don't really have a mentor. Most of what I know came from trial and error. Mainly a whole lot of error. As far as my style, I try to be observant. I came up through the ranks with claiming horses, and I tried to correct problems that others had had. My job is to read the horse and try to "listen" to the clues that they are trying to tell me.  
 
 		  
  8. You get on many of your horses during morning workouts. Is this an advantage?  
     
  I don't get on Havre de Grace every morning just because I have too many horses now to do that on a daily basis. But I do feel that getting up on them now and then is a good thing. It helps me read them...gives me a better feel for them.  
 
 		  
  9. Can you comment on Jerry Hollendorfer? Do you know him very well?  
     
  I think he does a great job. We've raced against each other many times, and during Derby week, we hang out around the same barn. He's a nice guy. I like him.  
 
 		  
  10. Is it possible that racing against boys in a race like the Woodward might actually be easier than racing against Blind Luck?  
     
  There are some boys out there training well, and also some late bloomers coming out of the woodwork. I know that horses like Sidney's Candy and Friend or Foe certainly have a lot of talent. But trust me-Blind Luck is one of the toughest opponents one could ever hook.  
 
 
 
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