Dream Tree cruises to Starlet victory

CYPRESS, Calif. – Nearing the stretch of Saturday’s Grade 1 Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos, Dream Tree was cruising to the lead outside of pacesetter Yesterday’s News when jockey Drayden Van Dyke smoothly reached up to pull down a set of goggles.

“I wanted to see a little clearer,” Van Dyke said later.

Van Dyke wanted a good view of Dream Tree’s most important win to date. Dream Tree ($2.80) won the $300,000 Starlet Stakes by an easy 3 1/4 lengths over 9-1 Yesterday’s News.

“She ran right through the stretch,” Van Dyke said. “I didn’t have to pull out my stick. It was just a hand-ride.”

Yesterday’s News set a modest pace of 24.67 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 49.25 for a half-mile, leading by a length on the turn. On the backstretch and turn, Dream Tree was always well-positioned to challenge Yesterday’s News.

“Drayden rode her with a lot of confidence,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “She was in a good spot.”

Baffert swept the two Grade 1 races at Los Alamitos on Saturday. He won the preceding race, the $300,000 Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity, with McKinzie, who was promoted from second to first after stablemate Solomini was disqualified for causing interference in the final sixteenth.

The runner-up finish gave Yesterday’s News an important placing in a Grade 1 race.

“She got things her own way, but she ran a courageous race,” trainer Simon Callaghan said. “You can’t be disappointed. She’s getting better each time.”

The Starlet was the graded stakes debut for Yesterday’s News, who was sixth in the listed Surfer Girl Stakes on turf at Santa Anita in October in her only other stakes appearance. Yesterday’s News has had six starts.

Piedi Bianchi, who was fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar on Nov. 4, finished third, followed by Exuberance in the field of four. War Heroine, a maiden winner at Del Mar on Nov. 12, was scratched on Saturday morning.

At the start, Van Dyke said he wanted to “play the break” and opted to stalk Yesterday’s News. Dream Tree took the lead with less than a quarter-mile remaining. Van Dyke said he was thinking about the start of the filly’s 3-year-old campaign this winter when he opted to glide home in the final strides.

“We’ll save her for next time,” he said.

Dream Tree ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.87.

Dream Tree is unbeaten in three starts for the Phoenix Thoroughbreds partnership and Baffert. This was the first Grade 1 win for Phoenix, which purchased Dream Tree for $750,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale of 2-year-olds in-training in March.

By Uncle Mo, Dream Tree won a six-furlong maiden race by a nose at Santa Anita on Oct. 27 and the Desi Arnaz Stakes at seven furlongs by a nose at Del Mar on Nov. 18. She has earned $270,000.