by James Platz

Homebred Delco Irene picked up a second straight win at Running Aces on Thursday evening (July 25). Competing in a $17,000 Class A event for Minnesota-sired sophomores, the Justin Anfinson-trained pacer received every call on the way to a 1:53.2 performance. Her younger sister, Delco Kathleen, is no stranger to the Running Aces winner’s circle. The freshman claimed victory July 16, also in a Class A leg. Both fillies were bred by owner Jesse “Jay” DeLong.

To appreciate the success of Delco Irene and Delco Kathleen, one must follow the pedigrees of these fillies back to Steady Wacken. DeLong owned the son of Armbro Mackintosh—Expresso Gypsy in partnership during the gelding’s freshman and sophomore campaigns, as well as part of his 4-year-old season.

“He was probably one of the fastest racehorses I had been around to that point,” DeLong said. “So, I went to the sale and bought his sister. This mare was by Wuzzup, which, I don’t think he had four foals a year. He wasn’t a very popular sire.”

Gypsys Good Girl wasn’t the six-figure earner that her older brother turned out to be, but she did pick up four wins and hit the board in 19 of 46 starts. After closing the chapter on her racing career, DeLong kept her as a broodmare.

“She was a big, stout mare,” he said. “She never made a lot of money, but she showed me she could pace, and she came from a really nice Illinois family.”

The decision to keep Gypsys Good Girl has yielded a bounty of quality pacers through the years. Her first foal, Dontgetinmyway mare Shes Lovin It, blossomed into a 19-time winner with just shy of $172,000 on her card. Half-sister Delco Voracious was a two-time Minnesota champion that later died producing her only foal, gelding Fight Like Mike, who is still racing and has $162,000 on his card. The ‘Delco’ name is synonymous with the DeLong family. The Wisconsin natives have used the moniker for decades, but Jay reserves it for special situations.

“It goes all the way back to my dad,” he said. “I don’t use it on every horse, but some that mean quite a bit. Just certain horses that we breed that mean a lot.”

After his wife, Mary, successfully battled colon cancer, Jay named Gypsys Good Girl’s fourth foal Good News Delco. The next, a Jereme’s Jet filly, was named Delco Dusty after Dr. Dustin “Dusty” Deming of the UW Carbone Cancer Center. Deming spearheaded Mary’s cancer treatment.

To date, Delco Dusty is the richest of Gypsys Good Girl’s offspring. With seven wins to her credit, the pacer raked in $195,436 over 27 starts. As a freshman, she established a Plainridge Park track and Massachusetts Sires Stakes record.

“I foaled her in Massachusetts and made all the residency requirements so that she was eligible,” Jay said. “She ended up winning the 2-year-old division, won the final and everything, and broke the track record in 1:53. I raced her back at 3 and won the 3-year-old division and brought her home.”

Gypsys Good Girl continues to foal winners, with a freshman that has already reached the winner’s circle twice in 2024. Jay has tried to keep each of the mares she has produced, as he noted the quality progeny the family continually produces.

“She’s had a couple of sons that have gone out east that paced in 1:53, 1:52,” he said. “I’ve been trying to keep all the mares because they foal phenomenal size and they race great as 2-year-olds and 3-year-olds. These fillies tower over everybody and they are really nice fillies, so that’s why I have kept her over the years. It’s been a good family.”

Like her mother, Delco Dusty has gained a similar reputation with a trio of Minnesota-bred winners from her first three babies. Her first foal, Art’s Chip mare Wavzeka, was a dominant force at 2 and 3. Trained by Justin Anfinson, the pacer won six of 13 freshman starts at Running Aces and at the Minnesota fairs. She was named divisional champion in the state and County Fair Pacer of the Year for 2022. Winning seven times in 2023, including a perfect five-for-five on the fair circuit, Wavzeka repeated as County Fair Pacer of the Year. Now racing as a 4-year-old, she has earned over $110,000 in her career.

Once a winner in five freshman attempts, Delco Irene has returned this season as a formidable filly at Running Aces. Named after one of Mary’s aunts, the daughter of Bettor’s Delight stallion Wind Me Up has finished on the board in seven of nine seasonal starts primarily driven by Brady Jenson.

“She’s racing great right now,” Jay said. “She’s really coming on now.”

Three of her four wins have come in Minnesota sired Class A action. Delco Irene took her 1:52.2 mark in a victory on July 11, and now has just over $45,000 in career earnings. Anfinson trains DeLong’s horses when they are ready to race in the Gopher State, and the partnership has worked well.

“I’ve always had a few through the years, but didn’t have anybody up there,” Jay said. “Mainly the last few years it’s been Justin. He has done a phenomenal job for me. I do all the scanning, the breaking, and training down. I get them right to the point where I take them up and qualify them. Justin and I decide on each horse, and I either take them home for a little while and keep working with them or he takes them from there and keeps racing them.”

Delco Dusty’s latest racing filly, Delco Kathleen, is off to a strong start. Making seven starts, she has three wins and has missed the board only once. Also named for one of Mary’s aunts, the Easy Again freshman has earned nearly $25,000 while racing against the boys three times. Her 1:57.3 seasonal best was established in a late-June victory at Running Aces with Todd Warren in the bike.

“There aren’t a lot of horses up there right now as far as Minnesota-breds,” Jay said. “Unfortunately, my fillies have to race against each other. There aren’t divisions yet. If we do go to divisions, they write a Class A and a Class B and the colts get thrown in with the fillies. It’s very hard. Most years the colts are better. There’s a colt up there right now [Cash Money Twenty] that Kathleen can’t beat. Until you get the numbers up, that’s the way it’s got to be.”