Gate to Wire Delaware Handicap Win for Belle Gallantey

Gate to Wire Delaware Handicap Win for Belle Gallantey: In her first G1 victory, Belle Gallantey won the 77th running of the Delaware Handicap on Saturday, July 12, 2014 at Delaware Park in Wilmington, Delaware with jockey Jose Ortiz. The five-year-old mare traveled the 1 ¼ miles in 2:01.15 in gate to wire fashion upsetting heavy favorite Princess of Sylmar in the $750,000 Delaware Handicap.

Fans flocked to Delaware Park to witness the beautiful Princess of Sylmar compete in the 2014 Delaware Handicap but the four-year-old filly trained by Todd Pletcher finished second to Belle Gallantey by 2 ¾ lengths. Belle Gallantey took the lead right out of the gate with jockey Jose Ortiz and managed her first G1 win against five other tough fillies & mares. The Ken McPeek trainee Flashy American finished third.

Former NCAA wrestling champion Mike Caruso, who co-owns Belle Gallantey, was leery at entering the mare in the 2014 Delaware Handicap but was excited that the race was theirs to win saying, “That horse [Princess of Sylmar] is as good as any horse in the country, but it was our day.”

In a post race interview, Rudy Rodriguez who trains Belle Gallantey, removed his Yankees ball cap to reveal a laceration from a recent horse kick reported, “If we finished second or third, I was going to be very happy. But when you win it’s just a plus. When you compete against horses like Princess of Sylmar and all these good horses, it’s tough to compete with them but we got lucky.”

Belle Gallantey paid her loyal fans $15.60 for a win bet in the 2014 Delaware Handicap.

Delaware Handicap 2014 Results & Payouts:
1 Belle Gallantey and Jose L. Ortiz $15.60 to Win, $4.20 to Place, $2.80 to Show
6 Princess of Sylmar and Javier Castellano $2.10 to Place, $2.10 to Show
2 Flashy American and Alex Cintron $3.00 to Show
Also ran: 4 – Gamay Noir , 3 – Molly Morgan , 5 – Bryan’s Jewel