Last April at Keeneland, Gin Gin came out of nowhere to win the Doubledogdare Stakes at 38-1. Did that upset make believers out of the betting public? Generally, no. Back at Keeneland in October, Gin Gin went off at 18-1 in the Grade 1 Spinster. She won that, too. The 5-year-old mare, a Calumet homebred, will sneak up on nobody Friday when she tries for a second straight Doubledogdare as the 2-1 morning-line favorite. Gin Gin faces seven rivals in the $400,000 Doubledogdare, for older fillies and mares over 1 1/16 miles on dirt. The North American Graded Stakes committee raised the race from Grade 3 to Grade 2 status for this year. Gin Gin went to post at nearly 40-1 in the 2025 Doubledogdare because she looked too slow to contend. Only mildly impressive in a second-start maiden win, Gin Gin landed the listed Busanda early in her 3-year-old season, failed to make much of a mark in two more Aqueduct stakes early in 2024, and ended that form cycle losing the Kentucky Oaks by almost 40 lengths. Her next start, 8 1/2 months later, produced another dud, this time in Fair Grounds allowance company. Two massive defeats and a career-best 76 Beyer Speed Figure – that’s why Gin Gin got little respect in the Doubledogdare, her first start for trainer Brendan Walsh. And it’s not like she eked out the upset: Gin Gin pressed the pace, took over easily, and won by 5 1/4 lengths, earning a 96 Beyer. :: Keeneland Spring Meet! Get DRF Past Performances, picks, news, and more. She came back six weeks later with a solid second in the Grade 3 Shawnee at Churchill, and after her form slipped a couple notches on June 28 in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis, Gin Gin got the rest of the summer off. Aimed directly for the Spinster, Gin Gin set a strong pace and held clear of Nitrogen and Scylla for a narrow victory. Scylla went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Distaff and Nitrogen was second, but Gin Gin was eased out of the race. “She broke through the gate before the start, and we were done at that point,” Walsh said. Gin Gin’s not the sort of horse to psychologically recover from something like a false start – at least not out on the road. Walsh did most of her winter prep at Palm Meadows in Florida, but Gin Gin has logged two works at Keeneland, the most recent a blazing half-mile gate drill in 46.80 seconds. “We popped her out of the gate the other day. She really loves training at Keeneland,” Walsh said. “A lot of it is she can run out of her own stall. It’s easy to get her wound up, and the less you take her out of her realm, the better for her.” Gin Gin, from the appearance of workout video, trained strongly even before returning to Kentucky. The horse she seemed to be in her two Keeneland wins is at least that same horse this year, Walsh believes. “You could argue she was getting better last year with maturity,” he said. Strange to say about a horse who hasn’t gone favored in her last dozen starts, but Gin Gin wins if she runs to form. The morning line lists Alpine Princess as the 5-2 second choice, and maybe that’s close to accurate, but where Gin Gin’s career peak came in a Keeneland Grade 1, Alpine Princess hit her best winning the Grade 3 Falls City in November at Churchill Downs. Her distant second in her lone race this year, the Royal Delta on Feb. 14 at Gulfstream, took on added shine when the Royal Delta winner, Claret Beret, smoked solid competition in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom last weekend at Oaklawn. Saffie Joseph Jr. trains Claret Beret. For the Doubledogdare, Joseph has Eunomia, just a neck behind Alpine Princess in the Royal Delta and a last-start Colonial Downs stakes winner over a one-turn mile. Eunomia’s camp might have designs on leading, but so will Running Away’s, and Running Away drew on the outside. Provided Gin Gin doesn’t return too amped after her winter break, she and jockey Luis Saez could find themselves in a perfect stalking spot – ready to put away another round of the Doubledogdare. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.