Real Delight (USA)
March 7, 1949 – 1969
Bull Lea (USA) x Blue Delight (USA), by Blue Larkspur (USA)
Family 9-c
March 7, 1949 – 1969
Bull Lea (USA) x Blue Delight (USA), by Blue Larkspur (USA)
Family 9-c
While Twilight Tear is generally regarded as the best filly ever bred by the legendary Calumet Farm, there is little reason to doubt that Real Delight was a close second. She met and defeated the best of the American older females of 1952 regularly during the second half of her 3-year-old season and was accounted the best American filly or mare under handicap conditions as well as the best 3-year-old filly. The one thing she did not do was to defeat males. As a broodmare, she produced three stakes winners and became the primary conduit for the family of her dam, Calumet foundation mare Blue Delight.
Race record
15 starts, 12 wins, 1 second, 0 thirds, US$261,822
1952:
1953:
Honors
Assessments
Highweighted at 126 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American fillies and mares of 1953, 1 pound above the official co-champion handicap female, Sickle's Image.
As an individual
A tall, strong, handsome bay mare (reports of her height varied from 16.2 to 17.0 hands), Real Delight possessed an excellent shoulder, good bone, wide hips and fine balance. She was slightly long in her loin coupling. She did not race at 2 due to the presence of a splint near one knee, was intermittently sore throughout the latter half of her 3-year-old season, and suffered from leg trouble again at 4, leading to her retirement. She had the natural speed to win gate to wire but could be placed as her jockey desired and usually stalked the pace rather than setting it. Her disposition was excellent and she was a good doer.
As a producer
Real Delight produced 10 named foals. All 10 started and nine won. Her important foals are as follow:
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Real Delight was bred and owned by Calumet Farm. She was trained by the father-and-son training team of Ben Jones and Horace “Jimmy” Jones. She died in 1969 and was buried in the Calumet Farm horse cemetery.
Pedigree notes
Real Delight is inbred 4x4 to 1906 Derby Stakes winner Spearmint. She is a full sister to 1953 Kentucky Oaks winner Bubbley, second dam of multiple Grade 3 winner Who Duzzit. She is also a full sister to the stakes-winning colts All Blue and Kentucky Pride and a half sister to 1956 Kentucky Oaks winner Princess Turia (by Heliopolis), dam of 1968 American co-champion 3-year-old male Forward Pass (by On-and-On) and Grade 2 winner Turn to Turia (by Best Turn). In addition, Real Delight is a half sister to Whirling Lark (by Whirlaway), dam of 1955 Gotham Stakes winner Go Lightly (by Faultless) and third dam of multiple Grade 1 winner El Senor, Grade 2 winner Carry the Banner and Grade 3 winners Jamila Kadir and Strawberry Wine.
Real Delight's dam Blue Delight won six stakes races including the 1940 Arlington Lassie Stakes and the 1942 Arlington Matron Handicap. She is a full sister to multiple stakes winner Lightspur and is out of juvenile stakes winner Chicleight (by Chicle). Chicleight, in turn, is a half sister to multiple stakes winners Siskin (by Épinard), Hygro (by Épinard) and Errard (by Challenger II) and is out of the Honeywood mare Ruddy Light, herself the winner of the 1923 Clipsetta Stakes.
Books and media
Photo credit
Real Delight, Eddie Arcaro up, in the winner's circle following the 1952 Coaching Club American Oaks. Bernard Stanley Morgan photo, May 24, 1952. From the Keeneland Library Morgan Collection; used by permission. Please contact the Keeneland Library with any questions regarding use or licensure of this photo.
Last updated: May 9, 2024
Race record
15 starts, 12 wins, 1 second, 0 thirds, US$261,822
1952:
- Won Beldame Handicap (second division) (USA, 9FD, Aqueduct)
- Won Beverly Handicap (USA, 8FD, Washington Park)
- Won Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (USA, 9FD, Pimlico)
- Won Kentucky Oaks (USA, 8.5FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won Coaching Club American Oaks (USA, 11FD, Belmont)
- Won Cleopatra Stakes (USA, 6FD, Arlington Park)
- Won Arlington Matron Stakes (USA, 8FD, Arlington Park)
- Won Modesty Handicap (USA, 8FD, Arlington Park)
- Won Ashland Stakes (second division) (USA, 6FD, Keeneland)
1953:
- Won Arlington Matron Handicap (USA, 8FD, Arlington Park)
Honors
- National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (inducted in 1987)
- American champion 3-year-old filly (1952)
- American champion handicap female (1952)
Assessments
Highweighted at 126 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American fillies and mares of 1953, 1 pound above the official co-champion handicap female, Sickle's Image.
As an individual
A tall, strong, handsome bay mare (reports of her height varied from 16.2 to 17.0 hands), Real Delight possessed an excellent shoulder, good bone, wide hips and fine balance. She was slightly long in her loin coupling. She did not race at 2 due to the presence of a splint near one knee, was intermittently sore throughout the latter half of her 3-year-old season, and suffered from leg trouble again at 4, leading to her retirement. She had the natural speed to win gate to wire but could be placed as her jockey desired and usually stalked the pace rather than setting it. Her disposition was excellent and she was a good doer.
As a producer
Real Delight produced 10 named foals. All 10 started and nine won. Her important foals are as follow:
- Heliolight (1957, by Helioscope) won 4 of 30 starts. She produced 1971 Sport Page Handicap winner Lonesome River (by Rough'n Tumble) and is the second dam of five stakes winners including Grade 2 winner Eminency and Grade 3 winner Katonka. She is the third dam of 1980 Preakness Stakes (USA-G1) winner Codex, multiple Grade 2 winners Give Me Strength and Talakeno and Grade 3 winners Smooth Runner and Hidden Assets.
- Plum Cake (1958, by Ponder) won a division of the Jasmine Stakes at 3. She is the dam of multiple Grade 2 winner Sugar Plum Time (by Bold Ruler); 1971 Juvenile Stakes winner Plum Bold (by Bold Ruler), the South African champion sire of 1980/1981; and stakes-placed Sweet Tooth (by On-and-On), the 1977 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year. Through Sweet Tooth, Plum Cake is the second dam of 1977 American champion 3-year-old filly Our Mims, National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame member and 1990 American champion sire Alydar, and 1980 Mother Goose Stakes (USA-G1) winner Sugar and Spice and is the third dam of Grade 2 winner Cinnamon Sugar. Through other daughters, Plum Cake is also the second dam of 1982 American champion 3-year-old filly Christmas Past and Grade 3 winner Pruneplum and the third dam of 2002 Oaklawn Handicap (USA-G1) winner Kudos and multiple Grade 3 winner Christmas Gift.
- No Fooling (1963, by Tom Fool) won the 1967 Sunland Park Handicap. He was of no account as a sire.
- Spring Sunshine (1966, by Nashua) won the 1968 Golden Rod Stakes. She is the dam of multiple Grade 3 winner Raise a Cup (by Raise a Native) and 1987 Juvenile Stakes (USA-G3) winner Lucky So n' So (by Alydar). She is also the second dam of Grade 2 winner Dazzle Me Jolie and the third dam of Grade 3 winners Bright Again and Rare Pick.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Real Delight was bred and owned by Calumet Farm. She was trained by the father-and-son training team of Ben Jones and Horace “Jimmy” Jones. She died in 1969 and was buried in the Calumet Farm horse cemetery.
Pedigree notes
Real Delight is inbred 4x4 to 1906 Derby Stakes winner Spearmint. She is a full sister to 1953 Kentucky Oaks winner Bubbley, second dam of multiple Grade 3 winner Who Duzzit. She is also a full sister to the stakes-winning colts All Blue and Kentucky Pride and a half sister to 1956 Kentucky Oaks winner Princess Turia (by Heliopolis), dam of 1968 American co-champion 3-year-old male Forward Pass (by On-and-On) and Grade 2 winner Turn to Turia (by Best Turn). In addition, Real Delight is a half sister to Whirling Lark (by Whirlaway), dam of 1955 Gotham Stakes winner Go Lightly (by Faultless) and third dam of multiple Grade 1 winner El Senor, Grade 2 winner Carry the Banner and Grade 3 winners Jamila Kadir and Strawberry Wine.
Real Delight's dam Blue Delight won six stakes races including the 1940 Arlington Lassie Stakes and the 1942 Arlington Matron Handicap. She is a full sister to multiple stakes winner Lightspur and is out of juvenile stakes winner Chicleight (by Chicle). Chicleight, in turn, is a half sister to multiple stakes winners Siskin (by Épinard), Hygro (by Épinard) and Errard (by Challenger II) and is out of the Honeywood mare Ruddy Light, herself the winner of the 1923 Clipsetta Stakes.
Books and media
- Real Delight is profiled in Chapter 19 of John Sparkman's Foundation Mares: How Outstanding Female Families Shaped the American Breeding Industry (2008, Thoroughbred Times Books).
- Real Delight is profiled in Chapter 8 of Avalyn Hunter's American Classic Pedigrees 1914-2002 (2003, Eclipse Press).
- Real Delight's only loss at 3 was in an allowance race over 6.5 furlongs, probably a little short for her. Carrying an apprentice rider instead of Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Arcaro, she lost by only a head to future American champion sprinter White Skies. It was Real Delight's only start against males in 1952 and her only loss of that season. In her only other start against the boys, the 1953 Grassland Handicap, her leg trouble recurred and she finished unplaced.
- Real Delight was the fourth filly to complete the Kentucky Oaks/Coaching Club American Oaks double, a feat previously accomplished by Princess Doreen (1926), Wistful (1949), and How (1951). The fillies that have since won both races are Dark Mirage (1968), Davona Dale (1979), Bold 'n Determined (1980), Goodbye Halo (1988), Open Mind (1989), Lite Light (1991), Ashado (2004), Princess of Sylmar (2013), and Abel Tasman (2017).
- Real Delight was the third of a record six winners of the Coaching Club American Oaks for Calumet Farm, which also bred and owned Twilight Tear (1944), Wistful (1949), A Glitter (1958), Our Mims (1977), and Davona Dale (1979). All but A Glitter also earned honors as American champion 3-year-old filly.
- Real Delight was the second of a record four Kentucky Oaks winners for Arcaro, who also won with How (1951), Bubbley (1953), and Bug Brush (1958). Manuel Ycaza later tied Arcaro's overall record, but no jockey has equaled Arcaro's feat of winning the Oaks for three straight years.
- Real Delight's Oaks victory, coupled with Hill Gail's win in the 1952 Kentucky Derby, made Bull Lea the third stallion to sire the winners of the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks in the same year. The other stallions to complete the double are King Alfonso, sire of 1885 Derby winner Joe Cotton and 1885 Oaks winner Lizzie Dwyer; McGee, sire of 1918 Derby winner Exterminator and 1918 Oaks winner Viva America; and Native Dancer, sire of 1966 Derby winner Kauai King and 1966 Oaks winner Native Street.
- Arcaro, who was the regular pilot for most of Calumet's stars, considered Real Delight to be the best filly or mare he ever rode.
- The Real Delight Stakes was a race for 3-year-old fillies at Arlington Park.
Photo credit
Real Delight, Eddie Arcaro up, in the winner's circle following the 1952 Coaching Club American Oaks. Bernard Stanley Morgan photo, May 24, 1952. From the Keeneland Library Morgan Collection; used by permission. Please contact the Keeneland Library with any questions regarding use or licensure of this photo.
Last updated: May 9, 2024