WILMINGTON, Del. - Honor D Lady rallied from slightly off the pace to win Sunday’s Grade 2, $500,000 Delaware Handicap for fillies and mares racing 1 3/16 miles at Delaware Park. Trained by Saffie Joseph Jr. for Final Furlong and Madaket Stables, Honor D Lady was bumped between horses leaving the gate, but soon settled into a comfortable rhythm in third position as Abundancia and Malibu Beauty took the field through moderate fractions of 24.07, 49.67, and 1:14.49. Jockey Jose Ortiz asked Honor D Lady to run at the three-eighths pole, and she responded. She rocketed past the pacesetters, then was too good for runner-up Saddle Up Jessie while characteristically flashing her tail in the stretch. Under the line, it was Honor D Lady by 5 1/2 lengths in 1:59.86. Saddle Up Jessie held second, a half-length ahead of even-money favorite Wet Paint. Then came Queen of Missoula, Morning Matcha, Abundancia and Malibu Beauty. Intrepid Dream scratched. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Honor D Lady returned $6.20 as the second choice in the wagering. It was Ortiz’s fourth victory in the race, tying Angel Cordero Jr. as the winningest rider in Delaware Handicap history. “She got a perfect trip,” Joseph said by telephone after the result was declared official. “She got bumped a little at the start, but Jose was able to put her in a good spot. From there, it was going to be her race to win or lose. She ran big today. I think the distance definitely helps her.” Saturday’s racing program at Delaware was postponed to Monday due to excessive heat. It was very hot Sunday as well, and that concerned Joseph before the Delaware Handicap. “She sweats profusely, even when it’s a cool day,” Joseph said. “But today, with all that temperature, she didn’t seem to sweat that much.” Multiple stakes winner Saddle Up Jessie finished behind Honor D Lady for the second straight start. “The distance was a bit of an issue because she’s sort of a free-rolling filly,” jockey Sheldon Russell said. “If she sees daylight, she doesn’t really pull, but she’s got that one speed. I felt that Jose was traveling the best of the three [leaders]. [We] jumped and went [outside of him]. She loomed like she was going to pass him. She’s tried her best. We’re over the moon.” Grade 1 winner Wet Paint never threatened the winner. “We were in the back,” Flavien Prat said. “Not much pace, so she made a run, but there was a lack of pace.” A 4-year-old filly by Honor Code, Honor D Lady has won 5 of 13 starts for lifetime earnings of $708,167. Bred in Kentucky by William Harrigan and Mike Pietrangelo, Honor D Lady was a $70,000 RNA as a weanling before selling for $40,000 as a Keeneland September yearling. She is a half-sister to stakes-winning turf router Churchtown and Grade 1-placed turf miler Simply in Front. Grade 3-placed at 2 over Woodbine’s Tapeta surface, Honor D Lady won two stakes at 3, including the Grade 3 Remington Park Oaks. She kicked off her 2024 campaign with a victory in Gulfstream’s Royal Delta on Feb. 17, then finished last of nine in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom at Oaklawn on April 13. Most recently, Honor D Lady finished second, beaten 4 1/2 lengths, in Monmouth’s Lady’s Secret on June 8. That afternoon, she stumbled terribly at the start, made a premature midrace move along the inside, then still re-rallied to place just ahead of Saddle Up Jessie. Joseph mentioned a race like the Grade 1, $500,000 Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 23 as a potential next spot for Honor D Lady. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.