Danzatrice may try graded company next

Cathal Lynch had his most successful year as a trainer in 2014, winning a personal-best 79 races while scoring with a phenomenal 29 percent of his starters.

Lynch won last Saturday’s $76,500 Parx Oaks with Danzatrice, a promising daughter of Dunkirk he trains for the Gainesway Stable of Antony Beck.

Danzatrice, now 3 for 4 in her career, was purchased for $105,000 at the 2014 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. spring 2-year-olds in training sale by John Fort, Gainesway’s racing manager. Saturday’s race was her first beyond six furlongs, and she made the transition to a mile and 70 yards look easy. She defeated Grade 1 Frizette winner By the Moon by 4 1/4 lengths under Trevor McCarthy.

Lynch said Danzatrice may run next in the Grade 1, $750,000 Acorn at a mile at Belmont Park on June 6.

Lynch, a 40-year-old native of Derry in Northern Ireland, has brought Danzatrice along slowly.

“Gainesway doesn’t run any of their 2-year-olds on Lasix, so we’re never in a great hurry with their young horses,” Lynch said. “We’ve always thought of her as a two-turn filly, and by going easy she’s grown into the filly she is now.”

Danzatrice was based with Lynch at the Palm Meadows training center in Florida over the winter.

“The best thing was giving her the winter off in Florida,” he said. “We’ve had her on turf down there a few times, and she liked that too. It’s a possibility for her down the road.”

Lynch, who is based at Parx, started out with one $2,000 horse in 1997. He now limits his stable to 42 runners. He is assisted by his older brother, Shaun; his two teenage sons; and his wife, Daniela.

“It’s a real family affair. We like horses in our family,” he said. “I like seeing my horses and putting my hands on them every day. I like to keep it manageable.”