Dame Dorothy travels in quest of Grade 1 win
Dame Dorothy is a graded stakes winner. With her pedigree, what she needs most now is Grade 1 status. That is the reason trainer Todd Pletcher and owner Bobby Flay decided to send Dame Dorothy to a throw-down in California in the Grade 1, $400,000 Santa Margarita Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita.
“After she ran in the Comely in November, we discussed the possibility of this race, mainly because of its Grade 1 status,” Pletcher said by telephone from Florida, where Dame Dorothy has been training at Palm Beach Downs. “The key to success is how she gets a mile and an eighth. I’m confident she can see out a mile and a sixteenth really well. We’re thinking the Santa Anita surface might carry her.”
Dame Dorothy, a daughter of Bernardini, has raced just once previously at 1 1/8 miles, when third in the Comely. That is the lone time she has lost from six starts. Her five wins have been at either seven furlongs or 1 1/16 miles. In her only start since the Comely, Dame Dorothy won the Sunshine Millions Distaff at Gulfstream on Jan. 17. That race became an option when it was opened to horses bred in several states other than Florida, including Pennsylvania, which is where Dame Dorothy was born.
“After that race, we felt like the best thing was to train her up to the race out there,” Pletcher said.
Dame Dorothy arrived on Tuesday. Also shipping in from out of town is Cassatt, who has won three straight races, including the Houston Ladies Classic at Sam Houston last time out.
Just seven entered the Santa Margarita, which is considered the championship race of the meet for older fillies and mares. The locals are led by Warren’s Veneda, who won the prep for this, the Grade 2 Santa Maria, on Feb. 14.
Whoever wins the race will earn her first Grade 1 win. Tiz Midnight came closest, finishing second last fall in the Zenyatta Stakes behind Beholder.
Also on Saturday’s card is the $100,000 Irish O’Brien, for California-bred female sprinters going about 6 1/2 furlongs down the hillside turf course. Go West Marie, the winner of the Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf Sprint over this course and distance last time out, should be favored against six rivals.
Santa Margarita, race 8
KEY CONTENDERS
Dame Dorothy (Last 3 Beyers: 92-80-86)
◗ Pletcher said he’s “not 100 percent sure” what the ideal distance is for Dame Dorothy. “I’ve always felt like the way she’s trained that she’d be at her best going two turns,” he said.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 3 Dame Dorothy. Trainer Todd Pletcher is 36-4-6-6 with a $0.73 ROI over the past five years in races on the Southern California circuit. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Cassatt (Last 3 Beyers: 93-92-88)
◗ She has proven adept wherever she goes. This is her 10th start, and it comes at her ninth different track.
◗ Her trainer, Larry Jones, won this race in 2013 with another ship-in, Joyful Victory, who, like Cassatt, was owned by the Fox Hill Farms of Rick Porter.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 2 Cassatt. Trainer Larry Jones is 38-12-7-7 with a $2.18 ROI over the past five years when shipping in for dirt route graded stakes. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
Warren’s Veneda (Last 3 Beyers: 95-94-93)
◗ A veteran of 21 starts, this 5-year-old mare is in the best form of her career, with consecutive wins at Santa Anita, where she has won 3 of 6 starts lifetime.
◗ She was much the best in the Santa Maria, powering home 2 3/4 lengths best over Uzziel, Thegirlinthatsong, and Legacy, all back to try again.
Irish O’Brien, race 5
KEY CONTENDERS
Go West Marie (Last 3 Beyers: 95-85-81)
◗ She is 2 for 2 since Gary Stevens took over as her rider.
Velvet Mesquite (Last 3 Beyers: 86-92-77)
◗ She was fourth to Go West Marie in the Sunshine Millions race but had an inside draw and broke poorly, which she does as often as not. She has a better post this time. An alert start makes her a formidable opponent.