The Blue Hen Stakes at Delaware Park Racetrack is an American Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-old fillies held annually in early October at Delaware Park Racetrack in Stanton, Delaware. An non-graded stakes event raced on dirt, since 2004 it has been contested at a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles (8.5 furlongs).
The Blue Hen is named for the horse breeding term "Blue Hen," meaning a mare who has proved herself exceptional in producing high quality foals, almost regardless of which stallion might be the sire. These sons and daughters would also have an impact on the breed. An example of the highest sort of Blue Hen mare would be La Troienne.
In 1965 and 1971, the race was run in two divisions.
Read more about Blue Hen Stakes: Winners Since 2000, Earlier Winners
Famous quotes containing the words blue, hen and/or stakes:
“There is no blue without yellow and without orange.”
—Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890)
“The house-dog lost,
the little hen escaped,
the precious hay-rick scattered,”
—Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)
“Law makes long spokes of the short stakes of men.”
—William Empson (1906–1984)