Coffey hopes Busher next step for Flora Dora towards Kentucky Oaks
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Flora Dora will have to get faster to be taken seriously as a Kentucky Oaks candidate. But she certainly appears to be fast enough to win Saturday’s $125,000 Busher Stakes, a race at Aqueduct that her connections hope leads her down the path to Churchill Downs in early May.
Flora Dora will face six rivals in the Busher at 1 1/16 miles, including three whom she defeated in last month’s Busanda Stakes over this same inner track. In that race, Flora Dora tracked a slow pace before grinding her way down the stretch to defeat Scatoosh by one length.
Marialice Coffey, the trainer of Flora Dora, agrees that her filly must get faster, but she believes that as the distances get longer, her filly will improve.
“I think the added distance is going to show us that she will do that,” Coffey said. “She gets stronger after each race. She really came out of [the Busanda] dancing and prancing. She looks like she’s going to improve. She’s just so calm about everything; she’s really a tough horse to read as far as what is she getting out of it until we do run.”
The pace in the Busanda was pedestrian, with Lost Raven setting fractions of 24.55 seconds and 49.32 for the opening half-mile. Lost Raven is back in this field, but the pacesetter might prove to be Whistling Straits, who ships up from south Florida for trainer John Servis.
“Regardless of the pace, it’s a matter of positioning in the race for her and if she can get to that position and close like we think she can,” Coffey said.
New challengers to Flora Dora in here are Mo d’Amour, the recent winner of a one-mile allowance race at Laurel, and Katniss the Victor, a New York-bred who was beaten a nose by stablemate Frosty Margarita in the Maddie May Stakes on Jan. 31.
The top four finishers from the Busher earn qualifying points toward the May 6 Kentucky Oaks on a 50-20-10-5 basis.
Busher Stakes, Race 8
KEY CONTENDERS
Flora Dora, by First Dude
Last 3 Beyers: 70-66-75
◗ She is 2 for 3 around two turns, her only loss a three-length defeat behind Lewis Bay in the Grade 2 Demoiselle here, where she may have been compromised by a slow pace.
◗ With Jose Ortiz riding in Saudi Arabia, she gets a rider switch to Cornelio Velasquez, who was aboard for her most recent workout, a five-furlong move in 1:03.40.
Mo d’Amour, by Uncle Mo
Last 3 Beyers: 67-65-54
◗ Comes off a 4 1/4-length allowance win at Laurel in which she switched to her incorrect lead in deep stretch.
“I think once she got to the lead, she was still a little green, but it was a big effort, and she came out of the race in good form and breezed well the other day,” said Byron Hughes, assistant to trainer Todd Pletcher.
Katniss the Victor, by Midnight Lute
Last 2 Beyers: 75-59
◗ Was good enough to win at 1 1/16 miles in her first start and came back with a solid second-place finish in the Maddie May Stakes, losing by a nose while finishing 17 lengths clear of the rest of the field.