Dortmund eyes comeback in Awesome Again Stakes

CYPRESS, Calif. – Dortmund, the Grade 1 winner who was retired in April but put back in training this summer, might make a comeback in the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita on Sept. 30.

Trainer Art Sherman said on Thursday that he is tentatively planning to run Dortmund in the $300,000 Awesome Again Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on dirt. He emphasized that a decision will be made after the 5-year-old has a workout at Los Alamitos next week.

Dortmund worked seven furlongs in 1:26.40 at Los Alamitos on Thursday.

“I’ll work him another seven-eighths next week and let him gallop out a mile,” Sherman said. “That will help me make the decision.”

The Awesome Again Stakes could be the first start for Dortmund since a fourth-place finish in the Santana Mile at Santa Anita on April 1. On Thursday, Sherman expressed concern that the Awesome Again’s distance could be a test for a horse unraced since the spring.

“I wish it was a little shorter,” Sherman said. “It’s a lot to ask going a mile and an eighth after a long layoff.”

Owned by Kaleem Shah, Dortmund resumed training in early July.

“I haven’t missed a week with him,” Sherman said. “He’s had plenty of good works.”

Dortmund was briefly retired in the spring after two losses. The winner of the 2015 Santa Anita Derby, Dortmund joined Sherman’s stable last winter after Shah and previous trainer Bob Baffert parted ways.

Dortmund has won 8 of 16 starts and earned $1,987,505. The Santa Anita Derby is his most prestigious win. Dortmund was third to American Pharoah in the 2015 Kentucky Derby. As a 4-year-old in 2016, he was winless in four starts, including a second to the Sherman-trained California Chrome in the Awesome Again Stakes last October.