Fire Away prevails in scratch-reduced Dixie Stakes

BALTIMORE – Manny Franco waited patiently before making his move in the $250,000 Dixie aboard Fire Away on Saturday at Pimlico, and at the quarter pole of the 1 1/16-mile race, he still had a clear view of his three opponents.

While Unbridled Juan, Just Howard, and O Dionysus fanned out for the stretch drive, Franco stayed to the inside. He wore down Unbridled Juan to win by three-quarters of a length, with Just Howard another half-length back in third. It was 2 1/2 lengths farther back to O Dionysus.

“I waited as long as I could, and I just trusted my horse,” Franco said. “The inside is fair today, I think, from watching the earlier races.”

Fire Away paid $4.60 as the favorite. He was timed in 1:43.92.

The Dixie was originally scheduled for the turf with a field of eight but was moved to the main track Saturday morning after seven inches of rain fell in Baltimore beginning on Tuesday. A field of four remained after the scratches of last year’s male turf champion, World Approval, two-time Grade 1 winner Divisidero, top contender Frostmourne, and Doctor Mounty.

With the race being moved to dirt, the Grade 2 status of this year’s Dixie will be reviewed by the American Graded Stakes Committee. It is likely to be knocked down a peg or two.

Fire Away is trained by Shug McGaughey and owned by Phipps Stable. The Dixie was only the second main-track start of his 22-race career. He finished ninth in his 2014 career debut in a dirt sprint at Saratoga.

Coming into the Dixie, Fire Away had won two of his last three starts, the $100,000 Danger’s Hour in April and the $150,000 Artie Schiller last November. Both of those races came over a mile on grass at Aqueduct.

Sandwiched between his two wins was a third-place effort to World Approval in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Stakes in February.

Fire Away is a seven-time winner with earnings of $598,397.

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