Real Delight (1949–1969), was an American Thoroughbred race horse.

Background

She was bred by the famous

Calumet Farm Calumet Farm is a Thoroughbred breeding and training farm established in 1924 in Lexington, Kentucky, United States by William Monroe Wright, founding owner of the Calumet Baking Powder Company. Calumet is located in the heart of the Bluegras ...

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

. Her sire was one of

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

's foundation

stallion A stallion is a male horse that has not been gelded (castrated). Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cresty" nec ...

s, the influential Bull Lea (sire of seven

Hall of Famers A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

, including his other great daughters: Two Lea,

Bewitch Bewitch (1945–1959) was a Thoroughbred race horse born in 1945 at Calumet Farm, Kentucky, United States in the same crop in which the stallion Bull Lea produced Citation and Coaltown. Each of them was eventually inaugurated into the Thoroughbr ...

, and

Twilight Tear Twilight Tear (1941–1954) was an American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. At age two, she won four of her six starts, finishing second and third in her other two starts. Her performances earned her the title of 2-year-old filly honors i ...

). Her dam was the stakes-winning Blue Delight (10 wins out of 24 starts) out of Blue Larkspur, a racehorse Blood-Horse magazine considered number 100 in its list of the Twentieth Century's greatest racehorses. Real Delight was a huge, rangy filly, standing 17 hands. Throughout her second year, she was bothered by a bad knee and did not race as a two-year-old. A Calumet horse, she was trained by Hall of Famer

Horace A. Jones Horace A. "Jimmy" Jones (November 24, 1906 – September 2, 2001) was an American thoroughbred horse trainer. The son of Hall of Fame horse trainer Ben A. Jones, Jimmy Jones was born in Parnell, Missouri. Raised around horses from infancy, he l ...

. Horace had become the head trainer by the birth of Real Delight while his father,

Ben A. Jones Benjamin Allyn Jones (December 31, 1882 – June 13, 1961) was an American thoroughbred horse trainer. Ben Jones was born in Parnell, Missouri, and attended Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington, Missouri for high school. Jones went into the ...

, became Calumet's general manager.

Racing career

At three, Real Delight won eleven of twelve starts. She began in combination races, meaning mixed fields of claimers and allowance runners, but quickly stepped up in class after two easy wins. Her first stakes victory came in the

Ashland Stakes The Ashland Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in early April at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. It and the Ashland Oaks, the Kentucky Association racetrack's predecessor race, were named for ...

, followed by her only loss at three, and the only time she competed against males. Even so, at a sprint distance of six and one half furlongs not suited to her long legs, she closed fast, losing by only a head. Often ridden by the Hall of Fame

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

Eddie Arcaro George Edward Arcaro (February 19, 1916 – November 14, 1997), was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who won more American classic races than any other jockey in history and is the only rider to have won the U.S. Tripl ...

, she then took eight stakes in a row, including the Kentucky Oaks, Coaching Club American Oaks, Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (once known as the Pimlico Oaks),

Modesty Handicap The Modesty Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. A Grade III race contested over a distance of miles on turf, it is open to fillies and mares aged four and older. Run ...

, and

Beldame Stakes The Beldame Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares three-years-old and up. Inaugurated in 1939, it was run as a handicap prior to 1960. The race is held annually near the beginning of October at Belmont Park and curre ...

. By winning the Kentucky Oaks, the Black-Eyed Susan, and the CCA Oaks, she was the second filly to win this early version of the Triple Crown for fillies. The only filly to do so before her was Wistful. (Today's

Triple Tiara of Thoroughbred Racing The Triple Tiara of Thoroughbred Racing, formerly known as the Filly Triple Crown, is a set of three horse races in the United States which is open to three-year-old fillies. Presently the only official Triple Tiara is the three race series in New Y ...

consists of the Acorn Stakes, the

Mother Goose Stakes The Mother Goose Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old fillies held at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Raced on dirt in late June or early July, the race currently offers a purse of $300,000. Inaugurated in 1957 at a mi ...

, and the

CCA Oaks The Coaching Club American Oaks is a race for thoroughbred three-year-old fillies and the second leg of the Triple Tiara of Thoroughbred Racing. Originally run at Belmont Park, the Grade I $500,000 stakes race was moved to Saratoga Race Course in 2 ...

.) In 1952, Real Delight was voted the United States Champion Three-Year-Old Filly, and took the '' Daily Racing Forms award for United States Champion Female Handicap Horse in competition with older fillies and mares. At four, she won the

Arlington Matron Handicap The Matron Stakes is an American Grade III flat horse race for Thoroughbred fillies and mares, aged three years and upward. Raced over a distance of 9 furlongs on the dirt at Arlington Park, Arlington Heights, Illinois every spring. It currentl ...

carrying top weight, just as she did in all of her other four-year-old races.

Retirement

She retired that year, going back to Calumet, where she foaled three stakes winners, eventually becoming the third dam of Alydar. Real Delight was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1987.

Death

Real Delight lived for 20 years, dying in 1969

References

{{Reflist
Real Delight's pedigree, stats, and photo

Real Delight in the Hall of Fame
1949 racehorse births 1969 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Kentucky United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees Eclipse Award winners Kentucky Oaks winners Thoroughbred family 9-c