Santa Anita

Dortmund drills a mile ahead of Awesome Again Stakes

Steve Andersen|Sep 21, 2017

Dortmund trains at Santa Anita on March 10

Barbara D. Livingston Dortmund will return to dirt after finishing sixth in his turf debut on March 11.

Dortmund, the Grade 1-winning millionaire who was briefly retired in the spring, worked a mile in 1:41.80 at Los Alamitos on Thursday for a scheduled start in the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita on Sept. 30.

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Trainer Art Sherman said Dortmund will be sent to Santa Anita on Monday and will train there in the buildup to the race. Sherman cautioned that Dortmund is not a definite starter, depending on how the 5-year-old trains next week.

“We’re kind of leaning toward that race,” he said. “I’m going to take him over there to Santa Anita on Monday, and we’ll blow him out on Wednesday. I want to make sure he’s okay.”

Dortmund is best known for winning the Santa Anita Derby and finishing third in the Kentucky Derby in 2015 when trained by Bob Baffert. He was switched to Sherman’s stable at the beginning of the year by owner Kaleem Shah after Baffert and Shah parted ways.

Dortmund was beaten in two starts in March and April before being taken out of training. He resumed training with Sherman this summer.

The $300,000 Awesome Again Stakes is run at 1 1/8 miles, which Sherman said concerns him because Dortmund is coming off a five-month layoff. The winner of the Awesome Again Stakes receives a fees-paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 4. Dortmund was fourth as the 7-10 favorite in the BC Dirt Mile at Santa Anita last November in his final start for Baffert.

Sherman said the Grade 1 winner Klimt is back in training after being sidelined with a quarter crack during the summer. Owned by Shah, Klimt was a well-beaten third behind Battle of Midway in the Shared Belief Stakes at a mile at Del Mar on Aug. 26 after finishing second to West Coast in the Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby in July in his first start of the year.

Sherman said he does not know when Klimt will race next.

“We can train and bear down on him a little bit,” Sherman said. “I’ll start breezing and see where we’re at.”

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