Bed o’ Roses looks like Dame Dorothy’s race
ELMONT, N.Y. – It’s her ideal distance, and it looks like she could get the ideal setup. So, while Saturday’s Grade 3 Bed o’ Roses Handicap at Belmont Park was not the original goal for Dame Dorothy, it looks like it could be the ideal backup plan.
Dame Dorothy will seek her fourth victory in as many tries at seven furlongs when she heads a field of eight fillies and mares in the $150,000 Bed o’ Roses. Dame Dorothy was being pointed to the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at 1 1/16 miles on Belmont Stakes Day but was forced to miss that race due to a temperature.
She has come back to work twice since then and appears to have gotten over her illness.
Dame Dorothy, owned by celebrity chef Bobby Flay and trained by Todd Pletcher, is coming off a neck victory over defending filly-and-mare sprint champion Judy the Beauty in the Grade 1 Humana Distaff at Churchill Downs on May 2. Her other victories at seven furlongs came in the Sunshine Millions Distaff this year at Gulfstream and her career debut at Aqueduct.
Dame Dorothy comes from off the pace and figures to have to run down La Verdad, a winner of 12 of 18 starts but 0 for 2 at seven furlongs.
“Our filly has tactical speed, so we’ll let our filly run her race and hope that last eighth of a mile we’re gaining on her,” Pletcher said.
La Verdad may have to deal with some early heat from Room for Me, who applied pressure to La Verdad in the early stages of the Vagrancy before falling a half-length short. Room for Me came back six days later to win an allowance race gate to wire.
Street Story, a graded stakes winner at Belmont last summer, is part of a field that also includes Hot Rendezvous, Medaglia d’Argento, Expression, and Tahoe Tigress.
KEY CONTENDERS
Dame Dorothy (Last 3 Beyers: 93-87-91)
◗ Undefeated at seven furlongs and a winner of her only race at Belmont, she should work out a stellar trip under Javier Castellano for leading trainer Pletcher.
◗ If there is a knock on Dame Dorothy, it’s that she has topped out at only 93 on the Beyer Speed Figure scale, which puts her a tad slower than La Verdad and Room for Me.
La Verdad (Last 3 Beyers: 101-94-65)
◗ The majority of her 12 victories have come at six furlongs, though she did hold on to win the Grade 3 Vagrancy last out at 6 1/2 furlongs.
◗ In two tries at seven furlongs, she finished second in the Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie at Laurel in February 2014 and fifth in the Grade 1 Ballerina at Saratoga.
◗ This will be her first try at seven furlongs at Belmont Park, where La Verdad is 5 for 6 with one second.
◗ She has had three solid works since her last race.
Street Story (Last 3 Beyers: 87-86-70)
◗ Recorded a career-best Beyer of 92 in upsetting the Grade 3 Victory Ride Stakes here last year, defeating the highly regarded Miss Behaviour.
◗ She comes off a solid victory in the Grade 3 Winning Colors at Churchill Downs.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 8 Street Story. Trainer Steve Asmussen is 11-3-4-2 with a $4.87 ROI over the past five years with last-out winners in dirt sprint graded stakes at Belmont Park. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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