Davona Dale

Davona Dale
Sire Best Turn
Grandsire Turn-To
Dam Royal Entrance
Damsire Tim Tam
Sex Filly
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
Last updated on November 7, 2006

Davona Dale (1976-1997) is an American Hall of Fame Champion Thoroughbred racehorse.[1] 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

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 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.

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]

References