Dortmund comeback on track after Big Bear win

ARCADIA, Calif. – Last May, Dortmund was on a losing streak and exhausted. A win in the Santa Anita Derby in April was followed by a third in the Kentucky Derby and a fourth-place finish in the Preakness Stakes.

“He looked like he was overcooked,” trainer Bob Baffert said Sunday.

Dortmund was rested through the summer and returned to racing with a win Saturday in the minor Big Bear Stakes at Santa Anita. The race was a prep for the $500,000 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs on Nov. 27.

More importantly for Baffert and owner Kaleem Shah, Dortmund has regained weight lost in the Triple Crown.

“He got really light,” Baffert said of Dortmund’s condition last spring. “He weighed 1,230 pounds.”

Before the Big Bear Stakes, Dortmund weighed 1,300 pounds, Baffert said. By comparison, Baffert said American Pharoah weighed 1,195.

In the Big Bear Stakes at a mile, Dortmund was always near the front under jockey Martin Garcia. Dortmund stalked the early pacesetter Soi Phet before taking the lead on the turn. Dortmund pulled clear to win by 1 3/4 lengths over Point Piper.

“We were able to get him to relax,” Baffert said.

Dortmund has won 7 of 9 starts and earned $1,622,480. The Big Bear Stakes was his fifth stakes win.