Calamity Kate Engineers Delaware Oaks Shocker

Calamity Kate prevailed at huge odds in a shocking Delaware Oaks upset on Saturday. (All photos by Eclipse Sportswire)
A week after Fourth of July weekend, Calamity Kate set off some belated fireworks with a shocking 54.40-to-1 upset victory in the $300,375 Delaware Oaks on Saturday at Delaware Park.
The Delaware Oaks marked the return of Kentucky Oaks winner Lovely Maria, but the heavy favorite came up empty in the stretch and Calamity Kate seized the spotlight.
Trained by Kelly Breen, who won the 2011 Belmont Stakes in 2011 with 24.75-to-1 longshot Ruler On Ice, Calamity Kate entered the Delaware Oaks off an eighth-place finish in the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes in which she was beaten by 18 ½ lengths. Calamity Kate was bumped at the start in the Acorn and never fired, but prior to that she opened her 2015 season with a front-running allowance win on May 17 at Monmouth Park.
In the Delaware Oaks, Calamity Kate went right to the front and set a solid pace but she still had plenty of gas in the tank when challenged nearing the stretch. She turned back White Clover and then held off a late rally from Grade 1 winner Peace and War for a convincing victory under Hall of Famer Edgar Prado.
“The horse has been training good and in her last start she got a bad break,” Breen said. “So the last race was probably a throw out and she has been training great for this race. We had a couple of horses nominated and I guess we picked the right one to come here with. 
“I told Edgar [Prado] just to ride his race. That she is sharp. It was just a matter of being in right spot at that right time.”
The Yes It’s True filly completed 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.79, just a shade off the track record of 1:41.52 at Delaware Park, which was set by Lies of Omission on July 4, 1998. Calamity Kate paid $110.80 for a $2 win ticket and returned $79.40 to show with Lovely Maria out of the top three in fifth.
The Calamity Kate-Peace and War exacta returned $588 for a $2 bet and the $1 trifecta with Hip Hop N Jazz rounding out the top three paid a whopping $3,930.20. The 10-cent superfecta returned $1,586.28.
Calamity Kate improved to three wins in eight starts and boosted her career earnings to $345,868 for owners George and Lori Hall.
Bred in Kentucky by K & G Stables, Calamity Kate is out of the Tiznow mare Justmeandmyshadow, a half-sister (same dam [mother], different sire [father]) to Grade 1 winner and sire Officer.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
CALAMITY KATE