Hallie Belle tags Hawksmoor in Dahlia Stakes

Hawksmoor came into the $100,000 Dahlia Stakes on Saturday at Laurel Park with two Group or Grade 2 victories during her career and Grade 1 placings in her two most recent starts. Hallie Belle came into the race with a narrow win over 3-year-old fillies last December in the listed Pago Hop Stakes as the high-water mark on her résumé.

Horse racing is a funny game.

Under a fine ride from Sheldon Russell, Hallie Belle split horses at the eighth pole and tagged 1/5 favorite Hawksmoor on the wire, winning a head bob as she took down a tiger. Weights were level in the Dahlia, and while Hawksmoor was making her first start since Nov. 26, Hallie Belle hadn’t been out since Feb. 17, when she was no factor moving up to face older stakes foes in the Albert Stall Memorial at Fair Grounds.

“She came out of that race sick,” said Mike Stidham, who trains Hallie Belle for Godolphin. “She had a respiratory thing going on and just threw in a bad effort. We gave her plenty of time and she trained well up to this race.”

Indeed, in the Dahlia, Hallie Belle simply was the best horse on the day. Hawksmoor got a great trip sitting just outside and behind pace-setting longshot Tania’s Gem through splits of 24.24 and 47.47, a moderate tempo for a one-mile grass race. Hawksmoor put the pace-setter away in upper stretch and had taken a clear lead in midstretch when Hallie Belle emerged from the pack.

Racing as she has for several starts in cheek pieces, Hallie Belle had settled into a comfortable stride with one horse behind her around the first turn and down the backstretch. Russell cleaved to the rail as he made up some ground around the far turn, steered out to split horses in upper stretch, and was gaining on Hawksmoor with every stride the final furlong. The finish was a head bob, and Hallie Belle was the one with her nose down.

Off six furlongs in 1:10.63 and seven in 1:22.87, Hallie Belle ran one mile on firm turf in 1:34.70, paying $31.20 to win. The top two were much the best, with Broken Bridle home third. I’m Betty G and Full of Zip were early scratches.

Hawksmoor, who might have needed her first start back, has the Grade 1 Gamely at Santa Anita as an early-season target, trainer Arnaud Delacour said earlier this week. Hallie Belle, a homebred daughter of Medaglia d’Oro and Charity Belle, by Empire Maker, also will be stepped up in class after beating a mare as good as Hawksmoor.

“I didn’t want to have to run against a Grade 1 horse, but she needed to run somewhere,” Stidham said. “She’s a very talented filly, just developing. After today we’ll look for something a little better, a little bigger.”