Dortmund may be ready to race by late summer

CYPRESS, Calif. – At this time last year, Dortmund was days away from a third-place finish behind American Pharoah in the Kentucky Derby. This week, Dortmund is far from the spotlight, having returned to training at Los Alamitos in recent days after an early-spring rest.

Owned by Kaleem Shah and trained by Bob Baffert, Dortmund has not raced since winning the Grade 3 Native Diver Stakes at Del Mar last November. He was an intended runner in major stakes at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting but was sidelined with foot problems.

Baffert said recently that the break has allowed Dortmund to regain weight.

A six-time stakes winner, Dortmund has won 8 of 10 starts and earned $1,712,480. By resuming training now, Dortmund is likely to be ready to race by the end of the summer.

Later this year, Dortmund could race against Imperative, who finished fourth in the $1.25 million Charles Town Classic in West Virginia last Saturday. Trainer Richard Baltas said on Wednesday that Imperative emerged from the race without incident.

“I don’t think he had the best trip in the world,” Baltas said. “I was expecting a little better effort.”

Imperative raced wide throughout and finished four lengths behind race winner Stanford.

Baltas said Imperative is likely to race at Santa Anita this spring and summer, with the $500,000 Gold Cup at Santa Anita on June 25 as a goal. The Gold Cup at Santa Anita is part of the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program, offering a fees-paid berth for the $5 million BC Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 5.

On May 6, Baltas runs Mokat in the $1 million Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs. Mokat was second in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks on April 9 behind Songbird, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2015 who will miss the Kentucky Oaks because of a recent illness.

Mokat was flown to Kentucky early Wednesday. She worked six furlongs in 1:13.80 at Santa Anita on Tuesday.