My Mane Squeeze breezes to victory in Dogwood

My Mane Squeeze earned her second graded stakes victory beneath the twin spires by emerging from a crush of horses to draw clear for a five-length win in the Grade 3, $300,000 Dogwood Stakes for 3-year-old fillies sprinting Saturday afternoon at Churchill Downs.

My Mane Squeeze ($5.04) was seventh in the field of eight after the opening quarter but less than two lengths back as the field stacked up in an early scramble, with Neom Beach poking her head in front through an opening split of 22.39 seconds. Jockey Luis Saez patiently tapped the brakes to keep his mount off heels, and worked her into the clear coming three wide around Legadema, who inherited the lead between horses cornering into the stretch, and Neom Beach on the rail. From there, My Mane Squeeze continued on strongly to the wire.

"Today, the plan was to try to break and be a little bit close, but the track is pretty fast and everybody wanted to be there," Saez said. "But she was in a great spot, and when she came to the top of the stretch, she was pretty loaded."

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Last-out stakes winner Fibber, who has been a fine claim for Chris Hartman, incurred her first loss for the barn as she gave chase and was easily best of the rest in her graded stakes debut. She finished three lengths ahead of Legadema in third. They were followed, in order, by Uphill Dance, Neom Beach, Halina's Forte, Reagan's Flame, and Manama Gold.

The time for the seven furlongs on the fast main track was 1:22.27.

New York-bred My Mane Squeeze, an Audible filly trained by Mike Maker for breeder William Butler and WinStar Farm, has now won half of her 12 starts. A three-time stakes winner against her fellow statebreds, she has found her footing in open competition around one turn this year. After finishing eighth in the Grade 2 Fantasy Stakes, a Kentucky Oaks prep at Oaklawn, she won the Grade 2 Eight Belles at seven furlongs on the Oaks undercard. A creditable fourth in the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes, at 1 1/8 miles around two turns followed.

My Mane Squeeze was third in the Grade 1 Test Stakes, a premier event for this division, in August at Saratoga, and then third in the Grade 2 Charles Town Oaks on a vastly different track to Churchill Downs.

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