Gentle Ruler splits horses en route to Dowager victory

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Gentle Ruler ran her 2019 record to six wins in seven starts when she easily took the 1 1/2-mile, $125,000 Dowager Stakes on the turf at Keeneland Racecourse on Sunday by 2 1/2 lengths.

Gentle Ruler, a 4-year-old filly by Colonel John out of the Cozzene mare Winikens trained by Ian Wilkes, won the Dowager off the pace despite extremely slow fractions early in the race. She was the 2-1 favorite in the Dowager and was coming off a victory in the ungraded but rich $469,000 Ramsey Farm Stakes at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 12, a 1 5/16-mile race on the turf.

Chris Landeros kept Gentle Ruler on the rail at the rear of the pack for most of the early running, then began inching the filly up down the backstretch. He kept her on the rail until he needed room in the stretch, then split horses and galloped to the wire without much serious urging.

Elysea’s World, the second-choice, was second, 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Decorating, a longshot at 44-1. Final time on the firm turf was 2:31.85. The leaders ran the first six furlongs in 1:18.16 and the first mile in 1:43.85.

Landeros has been aboard Gentle Ruler for every race this year, which has turned out to be quite a run.

Gentle Ruler went 0 for 11 (with three seconds and five thirds) over her first two seasons racing. She began her 2019 campaign in a maiden special weight at Gulfstream Park after a nearly five-month layoff. Despite the race being moved off the turf, she won that day by 3 3/4 lengths.

Then she took a first-level allowance on the turf at Keeneland’s spring meet. Then she took the Keertana Stakes at Churchill Downs. Then she won the Grade 3 Robert G. Dick Memorial Stakes at Delaware. Then a fourth in the Grade 3 Waya at Saratoga, and then the Ramsey Farm win.

With her Dowager win, she now has earnings of $718,453 for the partnership Morsches Stable, all but $55,000 of that earned this year.