Breeders' Cup Distaff: Like the D-backs, Desert Dawn is upset-minded
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ARCADIA, Calif. – Arizona longshots are making news, in baseball and horse racing.
The surprising Arizona Diamondbacks swept the Los Angeles Dodgers and are playing for a berth in the World Series; Arizona-bred filly Desert Dawn will aim for a similar upset Nov. 4 in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Santa Anita.
Desert Dawn, the only Arizona-bred to run in the Breeders’ Cup, did not place in the 2021 Juvenile Fillies. And though she has won just 2 of 16, she won or placed in nine graded stakes and earned $816,525 for Arizona-based H & E Ranch, owned by mother-daughter breeders Elena and Hollie Crim. For three seasons, the filly has been consistent and durable.
“She’s exactly that, an honest, stakes-caliber filly who gives it to you every time,” trainer Phil D’Amato said. “She relishes speed to run at, and when she does get an honest pace, she’s always right there.”
Late-running Desert Dawn should get an honest pace in the Distaff, behind front-runners Idiomatic, Adare Manor, and Randomized. Desert Dawn also may be pre-entered in the BC Filly and Mare Sprint. She has not sprinted since her third-place career debut.
While a Distaff upset by Desert Dawn is not likely, at least the late-runner will get a fair shake following a series of slow-pace races that rendered her less effective. Desert Dawn is due, just like the Arizona baseball team, as Desert Dawn co-owner Hollie Crim touched on.
“It’s incredible, the Diamondbacks have struggled for years so it’s nice to see them have such a good year,” she said.
Perhaps it is an omen for the Breeders’ Cup. Desert Dawn rallies from behind, and the Diamondbacks must do likewise after losing the first two games of the ongoing best-of-seven National League Championship series.
Desert Dawn turned out to be the best horse bred by H & E Ranch, which sells 25 to 30 horses it breeds each year. Desert Dawn was to be sold as a yearling in 2020, but she did not meet her $32,000 reserve. H & E kept her to race.
She has started in 14 consecutive graded stakes, including a third in the 2022 Kentucky Oaks. Desert Dawn is the leading earner by Cupid; her pedigree goes way back.
“We’ve had the family for 25 years, we still have the mother, and obviously [Desert Dawn] has made us incredibly proud,” Crim said.
Desert Dawn’s 20-year-old dam, Ashley’s Glory, is still producing. Her 2022 filly by Mineshaft is in early training; her 2023 colt by Cupid, a full brother to Desert Dawn, will go to auction next year. Ashley’s Glory currently is barren; she will be bred next spring.
As for Desert Dawn, she may not win the Distaff, having lost nine starts since defeating Adare Manor in the 2022 Santa Anita Oaks. But in a speed-filled race, late-runner Desert Dawn might have a better chance than her odds suggest.
“She always shows up, she always gives it her all,” Crim said. “That’s all you can ask for from any horse.”
◗ Trainer Brad Cox plans to start three in the Distaff. In addition to Idiomatic, Cox confirmed Grade 1 winners Wet Paint and A Mo Reay are on target. Wet Paint finished second in her most recent start Aug. 19 in the Grade 1 Alabama; A Mo Reay finished second Oct. 8 in the Grade 2 Beldame. Both fillies lost to Randomized. The Distaff will be the second Santa Anita start for Midwest-based A Mo Reay, who won the Grade 1 Beholder Mile in March.
◗ Xigera will run in either the Distaff or Grade 2 Mother Goose at Aqueduct a week earlier. Trainer Phil Bauer and owner Richard Rigney will monitor developments before making the call. Xigera romped with a 98 Beyer Speed Figure on Sept. 23 at Churchill Downs in her return to dirt.
Bauer said the overnight stakes win by Xigera, and subsequent bullet work, are tempting them to run in the Distaff.
“I don’t want to say [her win] was a fluke,” he said. “She always breezed well on dirt.”
Xigera, 4 for 8 with two stakes wins, is 1 for 2 on dirt. Her 98 Beyer ranks only behind the 99 earned by Idiomatic as highest last-start figure among Distaff possibles.
◗ Played Hard, the Grade 1-winning 5-year-old mare trained by Bauer and owned by Rigney, probably has run her final race. Winner of the La Troienne in May and third in the Ogden Phipps in June, Played Hard subsequently got sick, then hurt an ankle working at Saratoga.
“I would have to think she’s retired and on to a broodmare career,” Bauer said.
Played Hard won six races, including three graded stakes and $1,480,140 from 16 starts.
◗ Clairiere turned it up a notch last Saturday at Santa Anita, working five furlongs in 1:00.40 for trainer Steve Asmussen. Clairiere misfired last out, Aug. 25 at Saratoga in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign.
“That race is kind of a throw-out for us,” assistant trainer Scott Blasi said. “When she trains like this, she usually runs a good race.”
Clairiere has two works remaining before her third Distaff attempt. She finished fourth in 2021, third in 2022.
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