Calipha

Calipha (foaled in 1991 in Maryland) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. The daughter of Two Punch will best be remembered for posting a two length score over the favorite Bunting in the mile and an eighth Grade II $200,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on May 20, 1994.^[1]

Black-Eyed Susan Stakes

Mid-May turned out to be a very successful time of year for Calipha's owner Nancy Bayard and hall of fame trainer Bud Delp who decided to run their filly in the defacto second jewel of the filly triple crown in the Grade II $200,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes. In that race the Maryland-bred Calipha beat a strong near capacity field of 13 stakes winners. The gray filly did this in wire to wire fashion as she broke well and established the lead running in to the club house turn. From that point on she never looked back and won convincingly over favorite Bunting and Golden Braids who finished second and third respectively. Her final time for the mile and one eighth race on dirt was 1:51.12 under Maryland jock Rick Wilson.

Racing career

Calipha also won the inaugural running of the Caesar's Wish Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in April 1994. In that race she beat Dance a Go Go and Simoom over the mile and a sixteenth. Later in the summer of 1994, Calipha won the Reeve Shively, Jr. Stakkes at Monmouth Park, New Jersey beating her Black-Eyed Susan rival Golden Braids. In 1995 she won the $100,000 Geisha Handicap under jockey Kent Desormeaux. She won the 1-1/16 mile feature race at Laurel Park Racecourse in 1:50.00 flat. Later that year in May 1995, Calipha raced on the Preakness Stakes undercard and came in second in the grade two Allaire duPont Distaff Stakes.

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