Dogwood a good spot for Mines and Magic
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Mines and Magic will put her unbeaten record at Churchill Downs on the line when she seeks her first stakes victory Saturday night in a well-matched running of the $100,000 Dogwood Stakes.
Mines and Magic was odds-on in winning back-to-back main-track races at the Churchill spring meet before finishing third in the Indiana Oaks on dirt and seventh in the Del Mar Oaks on turf. She figures as one of the favorites among a field of eight 3-year-old fillies in the seven-furlong Dogwood, along with Marquee Miss, Emmzy, Saharan, and One True Kiss.
Based at Keeneland with trainer Vicki Oliver, Mines and Magic was scratched as an also-eligible two weeks ago from the $200,000 Dueling Grounds Oaks.
“She’s run well at Churchill,” said Oliver. “This race should set us up for the Raven Run later in the meet at Keeneland.”
Marquee Miss, trained by Ingrid Mason, won the Dixie Belle and Martha Washington stakes at Oaklawn Park early in the year but has finished no better than third in six subsequent starts. She’ll also be going turf to dirt after finishing fifth as the longshot pacesetter in the Riskaverse at Saratoga last out.
Emmzy will make her first start since finishing second to her Bob Baffert stablemate Family Tree in the July 16 Indiana Oaks, while Saharan and One True Kiss both raced twice at the recent Saratoga meet.
The Dogwood will share the spotlight on an 11-race card with the Grade 1 President of the UAE Cup for Arabians. First post is 6 p.m. Eastern, with the Dogwood (race 9) going at 10:11 and the UAE Cup (race 10) at 10:42. The 11th race goes at 11:10.
Saturday will mark the 40th Downs After Dark card at Churchill, where lights were first used in June 2009. The track hosted seven Downs After Dark cards in 2013 and 2014 but scaled back to four in 2015 and 2016.