Emollient on her preferred surface in Doubledogdare

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Some people aren’t pleased to see the demise of Polytrack at Keeneland. Presumably, some horses aren’t either – such as Emollient, the Juddmonte Farms homebred whose two races over the synthetic surface at Keeneland have resulted in two Grade 1 victories.

“Obviously, she’s got an affinity for that surface,” said her Hall of Fame trainer, Bill Mott.

Emollient, a 4-year-old filly by Empire Maker, clearly is the horse to beat Friday as the 6-5 morning-line favorite in the Grade 3, $100,000 Doubledogdare Stakes. The 1 1/16-mile Polytrack race drew a field of 11 fillies and mares, with Emollient and jockey Mike Smith breaking from post 10.

Emollient won the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes here last spring from the far-outside post when using a brazen display of early speed. She was similarly impressive in the fall when rolling from last place to defeat older mares in the Grade 1 Spinster.

“We’ll keep her running on the synthetic as long as we can keep finding appropriate races for her, although I don’t know how many more that could be,” Mott said. “Otherwise, it’ll be very firm turf.”

Keeneland announced this month that the Polytrack, in use since the 2006 fall meet, will be replaced by a dirt track, effective with the fall meet in October.

After finishing a close-up fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf in her final start at 3, Emollient resumed training at Mott’s main winter base at Payson Park. She returned to the Santa Anita turf to make her seasonal debut in the Grade 2 Santa Ana, winding up fourth as the 4-5 favorite after dueling on the lead most of the way.

“I guess about all you can say is she needed the race,” Mott said. “There were no major excuses other than that. Since then, she’s had two more nice works [at Payson], and she shipped in to Keeneland in good shape. This should be a nice spot for her.”

Among the chief threats to Emollient are the uncoupled Mark Casse duo of Dixie Strike (post 6, Alan Garcia), who has extensive Polytrack experience, and Sisterly Love (post 7, Stewart Elliott), a sharp allowance winner on opening weekend.

The rest of the lineup is Ire, Moment in Dixie, Pearl Turn, Gold Medal Dancer, Noble Charlotte, Sisterhood, Solid Appeal, and Strathnaver.

The Doubledogdare, sponsored by Hilliard Lyons, is named for the standout Claiborne Farm filly of the mid-1950s. First post Friday is 1:05 p.m. Eastern, with the Doubledogdare, the ninth of 10 races, going at 5:13.

The undercard is outstanding, with four allowances (races 3, 7, 8, 10) on tap, as well as a maiden special event (race 2) at the rarely run distance of 1 3/16 miles on Polytrack.

◗ There will be no racing here Sunday because of the Easter holiday. The final three-day stretch of the 15-day spring meet starts Wednesday, with live action on the Kentucky circuit moving to Churchill Downs the evening of April 26.