Krantz Stable Updates
When Destiny Calls
- Details
- Published: February 9, 2004
- Written by Bryan Krantz
Our travel team arrived in Vinton at Delta Downs about three in the afternoon, making me about an hour late for a Louisiana Breeders Board meeting but leaving lots of time for Vickie and the rest of the crew to entertain themselves. Before boredom set in, a trip to the receiving barn was organized to see how Destiny Calls shipped. Jerry Delhomme had a horse in the first race and was stabled nearby. His sons, Jake and Jeff, were there to help out. Vickie quickly made friends with their horse and became immediately impressed with the closeness and down-to-earth qualities of the Delhomme family. Jake's stint as a backup quarterback for the Saints allowed him to come to the track often with the horses shipping in from Breaux Bridge. His spectacular season as the starting quarterback for the Carolina Panthers' run to the Super Bowl hasn't changed him at all. Horses are part of his life and part of his family. The group passed some time visiting, sharing the quiet time at the barn with the horses before returning to the frontside of the track for the races.
Just like any other sport, road wins are hard to come by and should be considered great indicators as to the quality of the participant. Destiny Calls showed 'em how on Saturday night and in the end her class carried her to a win against the best older Louisiana-bred fillies and mares the state has to offer.
As was the case in her prep race several weeks ago, the sandy track at Delta Downs made the task more difficult. When the gate opened, she lost footing and veered inward, losing ground. Our good fortune at having the No. 1 post position allowed her to use the rail to her advantage in having the shortest trip around the oval. Due to problems with the racing surface in days leading up to Saturday, no water was used to tighten the surface as would be the normal custom of maintenance for an evening of racing. By the seventh race the track had dried out and presented a cuppy surface for the horses to run over (like running on the beach).
The short track configuration (seven-eighths of a mile) at Delta Downs with its sharp turns make speed on the inside a powerful resource and even after the adventurous start Shane Sellers did a fine job of using Destiny Calls' tractable speed to make the lead and dictate the pace. Legs O'Neal, breaking form the third post, followed closely and never allowed us to settle into an easy lead. A quarter-mile fraction of 22.91, a half mile in 47.72 and three quarters in 1:13.05 were fast fractions in comparison to the other distance races of the evening. Shane sensed Legs O'Neal making a move to challenge for the lead at the three-eighths pole from home and began to ask for Destiny's best run. She flattened out, beginning to draw to a full length advantage and looked to be opening daylight as the two fillies entered the stretch coming out of the final turn. Legs O'Neal was game and fought back cutting into Destiny Calls lead with every stride to the wire but falling a neck short when it counted. Both horses finished in the order they had begun a full two lengths in front of the rest.
Vickie led the way into the winner's circle and rushed to greet our tired grey filly on the track when she returned. After a hug for Shane and a rub for the horse, she grabbed the right rein and led Destiny Calls in for her first stakes win photo. The winner's share of the $150,000 purse represented the largest purse value ever won by a Krantz Stable runner.
Shane dismounted and immediately described how much she struggled to get footing on the track and how much heart and class it took for the win. This was the proverbial tough road win and destiny called.