Cookie Dough will skip BC, target Tempted

MIAMI – Cookie Dough, runaway winner of the final two legs of the filly division of the Florida Sire Stakes, was back on the work tab on Saturday, breezing five furlongs in 1:00.65 in company with stablemate Perspire at Gulfstream Park. The work was the first for Cookie Dough since her victory in the My Dear Girl Stakes on Sept. 29. She won by 7 1/4 lengths despite being hung wide throughout after breaking from post 12, a distinct disadvantage in races run at 1 1/16 miles over the main track at Gulfstream Park.

Although the performance put her in the picture for a possible trip to the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, her owner-breeder Arindel Farm has opted to take the more conservative route and point Cookie Dough toward the Grade 3 Tempted Stakes the same day at Aqueduct Racetrack.

“I’m disappointed we’re not going to the Breeders’ Cup because I think she would be competitive off her last race, but I understand the owners’ reasoning and it’s their call,” said trainer Stanley Gold. “I realize her final time in the My Dear Girl was much slower than the boys that day and she got a low Beyer. But she lost ground all the way around, was never hit by the stick, drew off and won in a hand ride. I’m just not a big believer in numbers. I believe more in what I see and what I feel about a horse.”

Gold said Cookie Dough came out of the My Dear Girl in good shape, as evidenced by her work over the weekend.

“She could have left the other filly any time,” said Gold, who added Cookie Dough would breeze once more, on Saturday, before shipping to New York. “The game plan was just to keep her in company and give her a solid work.”

A Bit of Both sold

A majority interest in A Bit of Both, an11 3/4-length winner at Gulfstream Park of her only start, has been purchased by owner Michael Dubb, the filly’s former trainer Kathleen O’Connell reported on Sunday.

A Bit of Both, a 2-year-old daughter of Paynter, raced under a $50,000 claiming tag in her Sept. 28 debut and earned an 83 Beyer Speed Figure.

O’Connell said A Bit of Both would be sent to trainer Jason Servis at Palm Meadows later this week and that Darsan Inc. – the filly’s original owner who bred her in partnership with WinStar Farm – has retained a 25 percent interest in the filly.

◗ It was just a bottom-level maiden claimer to most, but for Natalie Fawkes, Sunday’s finale at Gulfstream Park West will always be memorable. Bonnie Scot’s wire-to-wire victory gave her the first win of her training career. Fawkes, the daughter of trainer David Fawkes, took out her trainer’s license this summer and needed 11 starters to achieve her milestone on Sunday. Bonnie Scot, by Graydar, is owned by Hot Scot Racing Stables and was ridden by Paco Lopez.