Royal Delta Stakes


The Royal Delta Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in February at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. A race for fillies and mares aged four and older, it is run over a distance of miles on dirt. The event currently carries a purse of $150,000.

History

The inaugural running of the race took place on 17 February 1991 as the Sabin Breeders' Cup Handicap over a distance of miles and was won by Fit for a Queen who was ridden by US Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey and trained by US Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey in a time of 1:42.50.
The event was named in honor for Henryk de Kwiatkowski's multiple Grade I stakes-winning filly Sabin and winner of the 1984 Orchid Handicap at this track where this event is held. Born in 1980, she won 18 of her 25 starts.
The event was classified as Grade III in 1994. In 2009 the conditions of the event were changed to stakes allowances and the race was run as the Sabin Stakes.
Royal Delta, winner of Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic in 2011 and 2012 won this race in 2013 easily by 5 lengths as the 2/5on favorite. In 2015, Gulfstream Park renamed the race after the three-time Eclipse Award winner to the Royal Delta Stakes.
This race was upgraded to a Grade II event for its 2014 running but returned to Grade III status in 2018.
The event has had numerous distance changes which can be viewed in the winner's table in the Winners section of this article.

Records

Speed record:
  • miles - 1:41:00 Devil's Cave
  • 1 mile - 1:35.18 Blamed
  • 1 mile & 70 yards - 1:39.57 Hunzinga
  • miles - 1:50.49 Taittinger Rose
Margins:
Most wins:
  • 2 – Awesome Maria
Most wins by a jockey:
Most wins by a trainer:
Most wins by an owner:
  • 2 – H. Joseph Allen
  • 2 – Hobeau Farm
  • 2 – Richard, Bertram & Elaine Klein
  • 2 – E. Paul Robsham Stables

    Winners