Dandy Man Shines could get right trip in Kilroe Mile

The good news regarding the chances of Dandy Man Shines in Saturday’s Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita is that the speedy Goliad is likely to set the pace in the $300,000 turf race.

The bad news is that a closer such as Dandy Man Shines will have an accomplished rival in Easter also racing from off the pace.

“There’s always something to worry about,” owner Tim Cohen said with a laugh on Wednesday.

Cohen’s Rancho Temescal Thoroughbred Partners co-owns Dandy Man Shines with his mother Roberta’s Red Baron’s Barn. They have watched Dandy Man Shines steadily improve in the last six months under the direction of trainer Jeff Mullins.

The Kilroe will be the third start of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting for Dandy Man Shines, preceded by a third by three-quarters of a length to Watsonville in the Grade 2 Mathis Mile on turf for 3-year-olds on Dec. 26, and a second by three lengths to Goliad in the Grade 3 Thunder Road Stakes at a mile on turf Feb. 3.

“He’s certainly getting better,” Cohen said.

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Dandy Man Shines won the restricted Let It Ride Stakes at a mile on turf at Del Mar in November. The Kilroe will be the Grade 1 debut for Dandy Man Shines.

“It’s a tall order,” Cohen said. “If he gets the right trip and gets lucky he has a shot.”

Easter will be a strong favorite in the Kilroe Mile, which has a projected field of seven, including Ah Jeez, Du Jour, Irideo, and MacKinnon, a $6,000 supplement, racing officials said Wednesday.

Du Jour won the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile last September and was 10th of 13 in the Breeders’ Cup Mile for trainer Bob Baffert last November in his most recent start.

There are four stakes on Saturday’s program, notably two major stakes on dirt – the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap at 1 1/4 miles and the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at 1 1/16 miles for 3-year-olds.

Baffert is expected to start Newgate and Reincarnate in the $400,000 Big Cap, which has an expected field of seven. Highland Falls, Mixto, Newgrange, Salesman, and Subsanador are the other candidates. O’Connor, a stakes winner at Keeneland and Gulfstream Park in the final months of 2023, was not entered because of illness.

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Newgrange, trained by Phil D’Amato, is the most accomplished runner in the field in recent months with wins in two Grade 2 races this winter – the San Antonio Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on Dec. 26 and the San Pasqual Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on Jan. 27.

The $300,000 San Felipe Stakes, a prep race for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 6, will have a short field expected to be dominated by Baffert-trained runners. Baffert has won the San Felipe eight times, but not since 2021 with Life Is Good.

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