Dorm Fever tries Ruthless off maiden win

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Last winter, the Jimmy Jerkens stable won the Dearly Precious Stakes for 3-year-old fillies with a horse that had won her only start. Sunday, the Jerkens stable will try something similar when it sends out debut winner Dorm Fever in the $65,000 Ruthless Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Aqueduct.

Dorm Fever, a daughter of Stormin Fever, will face five rivals in the six-furlong Ruthless, with three-time winner Golden Dreamer the horse to beat.

Dorm Fever is a large filly who overcame a slow start to win her debut by 5o1/4 lengths over the inner track on Dec. 3. She ran 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:04.85 and earned a respectable Beyer Speed Figure of 78.

"She's a big filly," said Steve Moyer, the New York assistant for Jerkens. "You never thought she could win first time out going 5 1/2 furlongs. Maybe good horses could do it. She broke a step slow, and [Eibar] Coa nudged her there and kept his position on the rail and drew off. She's always trained strong in the mornings and she doesn't let fillies get by her."

Dorm Fever will break from post 3 under Coa.

Golden Dreamer, a New York-bred daughter of Malabar Gold, has won 3 of 4 starts and is owned by Paraneck Stable. She overcame a troubled start and came from off the pace to win a statebred first-level allowance race in the slop over the main track on Nov. 8. On Dec. 1, she broke sharply and beat open company first-level allowance foes by 4 3/4 lengths.

Ernie Paragallo, the authorized agent for his family-owned Paraneck Stable, said he is hoping for an easy race before possibly shipping Golden Dreamer out of town for a graded stakes opportunity. Paragallo said he was torn between running in the Ruthless and an overnight stakes for New York-breds next week.

"I just want to give her a nice, easy race before we tackled the tougher competition," Paragallo said. "She's a good filly. She showed she could go to the lead and she showed she could come from dead last."

Norberto Arroyo replaces Jean-Luc Samyn aboard Golden Dreamer, who will break from post 4.

Marquis Diamond comes off a 10 3/4-length maiden score on Dec. 17 and is another contender in the Ruthless. She was purchased privately by J. Paul Reddam following her maiden win and turned over to trainer Mark Hennig.

Completing the field are Small Lies, who could benefit from a hot early duel, Special Dream, and Bedside Story.