Come Dancing will continue racing career in 2020

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – She ain’t done dancing yet.

Come Dancing, the Grade 1-winning mare, will race as a 6-year-old in 2020, trainer Carlos Martin said this week. Following her sixth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 3 at Santa Anita, Come Dancing was retired and scheduled to be bred to Quality Road in 2020.

However, Martin said owner Marc Holliday didn’t like the way Come Dancing’s career ended and decided to have the mare checked out to see if a 2020 campaign was feasible. Come Dancing was recently evaluated by Dr. Larry Bramlage of the Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky.

“Come Dancing got a clean bill of health, the plan is to get her to Ocala Stud in January with an eye on getting her back to racing in late April or May and hopefully back to the Breeders’ Cup,” Martin said.

Martin said Holliday first broached the idea of bringing Come Dancing back about three weeks ago. Martin said at first he had mixed emotions about it, but now he’s fully on board.

“I was fine with retiring her,” Martin said. “I guess when he hit me with the idea and he was so positive about it and he has so much passion for her that if she came back and was thriving and had the same mindset it could be really, really exciting.”

Come Dancing, a daughter of Malibu Moon, went 4 for 6 in 2019, topped by winning the Grade 1 Ballerina at Saratoga. Come Dancing won the Grade 3 Distaff at Aqueduct in April, the Grade 2 Ruffian at Belmont in May, and the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom at Belmont in September. Martin said Come Dancing could be pointed to a similar schedule in 2020, with the end goal being the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland.

Come Dancing is currently residing at Lane’s End but after the new year, she will be sent to Ocala Stud in Florida where she will likely be put back into training in mid-to-late January.