Belmont Park: Dancinginherdreams gets sized up for sprint in Classy Mirage

Barbara D. Livingston

Dancinginherdreams will get another try at a one-turn race in the Classy Mirage.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Dancinginherdreams has won around two turns on dirt and on turf. But when trainer Bill Mott assesses the filly, he thinks her best game might be around one turn.

Sunday, Mott will get another indication if he is right when Dancinginherdreams faces eight opponents in the $80,000 Classy Mirage Stakes, a 6 1/2-furlong dirt race at Belmont Park.

Mott took over the training of Dancinginherdreams earlier this year following the retirement of her previous trainer, John Ward. In her first start for Mott, Dancinginherdreams won a third-level allowance on turf at Churchill. She then finished last in the Grade 1 Just a Game at Belmont and last in the De La Rose at Saratoga.

Switched back to dirt, Dancinginherdreams finished a late-running third to Mildly Offensive in the Big Bambu Stakes on Aug. 31 at Saratoga.

“The worst thing that happened is she won first time on the grass because we wasted two more on the grass,” Mott said Friday morning at his Belmont Park barn. “And now we’re back on the dirt and I think that’s her preferred surface and I think possibly a one-turn race somewhere between 6 1/2 [furlongs] and a mile is probably her best gig. This is 6 1/2, which could be slightly on the end of what’s best for her, but I think she ran well last time.”

Dancinginherdreams will benefit from a strong early pace and Mott will be happy to learn that the speedy duo of Roman Treasure and Winnie Dixie, cross-entered in Saturday’s $100,000 Endine Stakes at Delaware Park, will stay in New York for this spot.

Roman Treasure is 3 for 5 at Belmont, including two stakes wins under conditions similar to this race, though both were at six furlongs. She came off a seven-month layoff to win the Chaldea Stakes here before finishing sixth in the Grade 2 Honorable Miss and fifth in the Gallant Bloom. In the Gallant Bloom, Roman Treasure broke from the rail and set very fast fractions before fading.

“When you turn her on she can be a pretty headstrong filly,” trainer Mike Hushion said. “It was a real good bunch of fillies. I thought she ran a reasonably brave race under the circumstances.”

Glamorista, transferred from Bob Baffert to Nick Canani, returns to dirt after three consecutive races on synthetic surfaces. In her only dirt start, Glamorista won a first-level allowance race last March at Santa Anita.

Kid Kate, who has done her best work at Saratoga, finished ahead of Dancinginherdreams in the Big Bambu at Saratoga before running fourth to her stablemate, the undefeated Awesome Feather, in a one-mile stakes here on Sept. 20.

Media Starlett, Twice the Lady, Cosmo Girl, and Tamarind Hall complete the field.