Davona Dale
| Davona Dale | |
|---|---|
| Sire | Best Turn |
| Grandsire | Turn-To |
| Dam | Royal Entrance |
| Damsire | Tim Tam |
| Sex | Mare |
| Foaled | 1976 |
| Country | United States |
| Colour | Bay |
| Breeder | Calumet Farm |
| Owner | Calumet Farm |
| Trainer | John M. Veitch |
| Record | 18: 11-2-1 |
| Earnings | $641,612 |
| Major wins | |
| Holly Stakes (1978) Kentucky Oaks (1979) Coaching Club American Oaks (1979) Acorn Stakes (1979) Mother Goose Stakes (1979) Fantasy Stakes (1979) Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (1979) Bonnie Miss Stakes (1979) Ballerina Handicap (1980) | |
| Awards | |
| U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Filly (1979) 5th U.S. Filly Triple Crown Champion (1979) | |
| Honours | |
| United States Racing Hall of Fame (1985) #90 - Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century Fair Grounds Racing Hall of Fame (2003) Davona Dale Stakes at Gulfstream Park (1988–) Davona Dale Stakes at Fair Grounds (1982–2000) | |
| Last updated on 16 February 2022 | |
Davona Dale (1976–1997) was an American Hall of Fame Champion Thoroughbred racehorse.[1]
Background
[edit]Owned and bred by Calumet Farm, her sire descends from Nearco and her damsire is Hall of Famer Tim Tam who won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes.[2]
Racing career
[edit]Racing at age two, Davona Dale won once and finished off the board in the other but at age three, dominated American filly races. In 1979, Davona Dale won eight straight races and became the only filly in American thoroughbred history to win both the National Triple Tiara (the three feature filly races on thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown weekend) and the New York Triple Tiara of Thoroughbred Racing. She won the national triple by sweeping the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs, the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (now the George E. Mitchell Stakes) at Pimlico Race Course and the Acorn Stakes at Belmont Park. Her second triple occurred all at Belmont Park when she won the Acorn Stakes, the Mother Goose Stakes and the Coaching Club American Oaks. Her performances earned her the 1979 Eclipse Award for Outstanding 3-Year-Old Filly.[3] That season, she also ran in the Travers Stakes against Colts. She finished fourth.
At age 4, ankle and tendon injuries limited Davona Dale to just three races out of which she won the Ballerina Handicap before being retired to broodmare duties at Calumet Farm.
Broodmare career
[edit]As a broodmare, Davona Dale produced 12 foals, of which nine started and six won. Her most successful foal was her 1986 colt Le Voyageur (by Seattle Slew), who raced in both the US and France, and finished third behind Easy Goer and Sunday Silence in the 1989 Belmont Stakes. Additionally, her 1989 filly Polish Maid (by Danzig) is the second dam of 2012 Del Mar Debutante and Chandelier Stakes winner Executiveprivilege.
Prior to the 1993 breeding season, Davona Dale was exported to Ireland. She died there in 1997 of foaling complications while attempting to deliver her colt Cema (by Lake Coniston), who was rescued from her womb and survived.
Honors
[edit]In 1985, Davona Dale was inducted into the United States' National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. In 2003 she inducted into the Fair Grounds Racing Hall of Fame.[4] The Grade II Davona Dale Stakes, part of the Road to the Kentucky Oaks, is named in her honor.
Pedigree
[edit]| Sire Best Turn dk.b/br. 1966 (USA) |
Turn-to b. 1951 (IRE) |
Royal Charger (GB) | Nearco (ITY) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun Princess (GB) | |||
| Source Sucree (FR) | Admiral Drake (FR) | ||
| Lavendula (FR) | |||
| Sweet Clementine b. 1960 (USA) |
Swaps (USA) | Khaled (GB) | |
| Iron Reward (USA) | |||
| Miz Clementine (USA) | Bull Lea (USA) | ||
| Two Bob (USA) | |||
| Dam Royal Entrance b. 1965 (USA) |
Tim Tam b. 1955 (USA) |
Tom Fool (USA) | Menow (USA) |
| Gaga (USA) | |||
| Two Lea (USA) | Bull Lea (USA) | ||
| Two Bob (USA) | |||
| Princess Gate b. 1957 (USA) |
Sun Again (USA) | Sun Teddy (USA) | |
| Hug Again (USA) | |||
| Siena Way (USA) | Bull Lea (USA) | ||
| Hydroplane (GB) (Family: 3-l) |
Inbreeding:
References
[edit]- ^ Davona Dale at the United States' National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
- ^ Davona Dale's pedigree
- ^ The Bloodhorse.com Champion's history charts Archived September 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Fair Grounds Hall of Fame" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-10-11. Retrieved 2012-06-02.
- ^ "Davona Dale Horse Pedigree". pedigreequery.com. Pedigree Query. Retrieved 2026-02-22.