Porter on why Grace will swerve Apple Blossom

Porter on why Grace will

swerve Apple Blossom

Owner Rick Porter took to his

Fox Hill Farm website

to explain why Horse of the Year Havre de Grace is swerving a title defense in

Friday's Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park in favor of the Grade 2

La Troienne at Churchill Downs May 4. In a nutshell, Porter and trainer Larry

Jones were displeased with the weight spread in the Apple Blossom.

As the 123-pound highweight, Havre de Grace would be spotting last year's

Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks heroine Plum Pretty six pounds and recent Grade 3 Azeri

Stakes romper Tiz Miz Sue eight pounds. Three-time Oaklawn stakes winner

Absinthe Minded, third in last year's Apple Blossom, would get a nine-pound

weight concession.

Porter inveighed against the weight assignments determined by Oaklawn Racing

Secretary Pat Pope.

"Larry and I really wanted to defend our title in the Apple Blossom," Porter

wrote Saturday. "We were expecting fair weights and when they were released

today, Larry called me and we were flabbergasted at the weights.

"Plum Pretty was the most unexpected, but a lot of them were very unfair. Tiz

Miz Sue was getting eight pounds after just running over a 100 Beyer and winning

the graded Azeri Stakes. Absinthe Minded was getting nine.

"No one can say that we have ducked anyone in racing. Hard Spun took on every

tough race there was, as did Round Pond and the immortal Eight Belles. We love

the competition.

"Havre de Grace took on Blind Luck six times and ran against the boys in the

prestigious Woodward and we didn't bat an eye at running in the granddaddy of

them all, the (Breeders' Cup) Classic.

"We have decided one thing though. We will take on any horse and take our

defeats when we get them, but we won't let the racing secretaries decide who is

going to win the races. That is why we took this stand on the Apple Blossom.

"The weights are unfair and I have asked all the journalists to demand that

Pope explain how he came up with the numbers for the weights. He owes it to the

fans that were going to pack the house for the Apple Blossom.

"He just didn't invent these weights, his duty as racing secretary is to

analyze each horse and their races and come up with fair weights. Since he had

to do it, he should make it public so we can see his thinking and reasoning. I

hope he takes on his responsibility.

"We will run in the La Troienne at Churchill Downs on May 4. This is exactly

what I said we would do if Pope came out with unfair weights. I hope you all

understand. We have decisions to make in running a racing operation and today

was one of those tough ones."

When winning the 2011 Apple Blossom, Havre de Grace ranked as the co-highweight

at 119 pounds. She entered that race as a Grade 2 winner who had placed in a

pair of Grade 1s, the Alabama and Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic. Havre de Grace

thus earned her first Grade 1 in the Apple Blossom, defeating the other co-highweight

Switch. That day, she successfully spotted Absinthe Minded five pounds while

beating her two lengths into third.

Havre de Grace dusted Tiz Miz Sue in the Grade 3 Obeah Stakes at Delaware

Park last June. Carrying two pounds more than Tiz Miz Sue, she easily bested her

by 2 1/4 lengths. Tiz Miz Sue's trainer Steve Hobby was not thrilled with the

idea of facing Havre de Grace again, and entered her in Thursday's Redbud Stakes.

With the defection of the defending champion, Tiz Miz Sue figures to jump

straight back into the Apple Blossom.

Plum Pretty, who will be making her four-year-old debut, has yet to meet

Havre de Grace. On a strict reading of form, the Bob Baffert filly would be

rated some way below her. Plum Pretty has twice been beaten by last year's

champion three-year-old filly, Royal Delta, who was herself drubbed by Havre de

Grace in the Grade 1 Beldame Invitational last fall. That might not be a true

bill, however, for Royal Delta did not run anywhere near her best in what was

plainly a prep for her major goal, the Ladies' Classic.

Moreover, Plum Pretty has scored two blow-out wins going the 1 1/16-mile

distance of the Apple Blossom -- a 25-length laugher in the Sunland Park Oaks

and a 7 1/2-length demolition job in the Grade 2 Cotillion, posting a gaudy 114

BRIS Speed rating.

This is not the first time that the Havre de Grace team has been dissatisfied

with an impost assigned by Pope, who is also the racing secretary at Delaware

Park. They were unhappy that Havre de Grace toted 124 pounds in last July's

Grade 2 Delaware Handicap, where she lost by a nose to archrival Blind Luck, who

carried 122.

Nor is it the first time that Havre de Grace has ended up skipping a target

at Oaklawn this meet. After announcing that she would return to action in the

March 17 Azeri, Porter altered course and decided to stay at Fair Grounds for

the New Orleans Ladies, citing a purse increase to equal the $150,000 Azeri and

a favorable weight scenario. Havre de Grace toted only 117 pounds under the

allowance conditions of the Ladies, and she won effortlessly by 4 1/2 lengths.