Patience the thing with Bling

Danele Durham began training thoroughbreds in the 1980s, then quit training in 1993-2006 to raise her son.

Danele Durham began training thoroughbreds in the 1980s, then quit training in 1993-2006 to raise her son.

Friday, February 15, 2013

— Danele Durham is doing it her way, particularly when it involves her big horse.

Texas Bling, a 3-year-old Texas-bred colt trained by Durham, will be making his 12th lifetime start in Monday’s $300,000 Grade III Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park.

Texas Bling’s resume,which is highlighted by a victory in the $300,000 Springboard Mile Stakes on Dec. 9 at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, is more like horses who raced 40, 50 or 60 years ago.

Triple Crown winners Citation (1948) and Secretariat (1973) both made nine starts at 2. Carry Back, the 1964 Kentucky Derby winner, made 21 starts at 2.

Conversely, I’ll Have Another won last year’s Kentucky Derby in his sixth lifetime start.

“It worked back then, and I think, to a degree, it works now,” Durham said of her hickory approach. “In the old days, they used to give the babies their little schooling races and not ask them for everything. Obviously, we knew the day we broke this colt he wasn’t

1 a 5/2-furlong horse.”

Durham is wintering at Oaklawn for the first time this year, but her 12-horse stable is more than Texas Bling, runner-up to Will Take Charge in the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes on Jan. 21.

Durham has already saddled two winners at the meeting - J Gray ($16) and He Has Bling ($11.80) - for her major owner, Texan Lewis Hall, who also owns and bred Texas Bling.

In requesting stalls, Durham said she promised Oaklawn racing secretary Pat Pope that she had some nice horses and would do a good job at the 2013 meeting.

“Pat had already determined I was going to get stalls before the horse ever ran,” Durham said, referring to Texas Bling. “I appreciate him having faith in me.”

Durham, who lives in Fort Worth and describes herself as “perennially 32”, has primarily raced in past years at Remington and at three tracks in Texas - Lone Star, Sam Houston and Retama.

Although she has only compiled training statistics since 2007, Durham has an extensive background with horses. Durham said she started riding at 2 and has ridden show jumpers and dressage horses her whole life. Her father also owned thoroughbreds.

Durham said she began training thoroughbreds in the mid-1980s - before Texas approved pari-mutuel wagering - and dabbled with quarter horses in the early 1990s, then quit training from 1993-2006 to raise her son and develop real estate.

Now, Durham is doing it her way - again - as a trainer, particularly with Texas Bling.

Texas Bling, Durham’s first stakes winner, didn’t break his maiden until his eighth lifetime start, a 7 1/2-furlong turf race Oct. 11 at Remington.

Durham, who is heavy into social media, said somebody tweeted that it was funny Texas Bling couldn’t break his maiden in five sprints against Texas-breds.

That was never the plan, she said.

“The objective was to break his maiden at Remington Park, like we did, and bring him along slowly because he’s so big,” Durham said. “Anyone that sees the colt knows that you can’t push a horse that is this big. You’ve just got to bring them along slow. Those early races were to get him experience in the gates and to get him experience in front of the crowd.

“When we do travel with him, he’s just like an old pro because he’s seen it all.”

Sports, Pages 19 on 02/15/2013