A one-time career maiden, Gentle Ruler now favored in Dowager

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The transition from slow horse to fast horse can take time – if it happens at all. Gentle Ruler is an extreme example, having gone from career maiden to habitual winner in stunning fashion.

“Maturity” is the reason Ian Wilkes gives when asked for explanation. “It’s as simple as that.”

Everyone should mature so well. Gentle Ruler, the morning-line 3-1 favorite Sunday for the Grade 3, $125,000 Dowager at Keeneland, will be looking to win for the sixth time in seven 2019 starts when she faces 12 other filly-mare turf runners going 1 1/2 miles. Three of her victories this year have come in stakes.

It’s quite a record being amassed by the 4-year-old Colonel John filly – especially considering she was a combined 0 for 11 at 2 and 3.

“She’s just a filly that’s grown up,” said Wilkes, who trains Gentle Ruler for Morsches Stable. “The last couple of years we’ve had to have a pony take her to the track, but now she goes by herself, nice and easy. She actually ran pretty well in some of her maiden races, but yes, the light bulb has turned on in her head.”

Jockey Chris Landeros, who is married to Wilkes’s daughter Shelby, has ridden Gentle Ruler in every race this year.

“Chris has done a great job with this filly,” said Wilkes. “He likes her, he trusts her. Sometimes you get a good match and everything comes together.”

Gentle Ruler will break from post 3 before negotiating the three turns of the 28th Dowager. Among her main challengers are a trio representing the Richard Baltas stable – Lemoona (post 2, Joe Bravo), Pantsonfire (post 9, Brian Hernandez Jr.), and Elysea’s World (post 10, Javier Castellano).

Of those, Elysea’s World has accomplished the most, having earned nearly $700,000 from 26 starts. The 6-year-old Irish-bred most recently was a creditable third behind Mirth and Beau Recall in the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive at her Santa Anita home base.

Fringe players include Touriga (post 8, Trevor McCarthy), a Brazilian-bred exiting the the Grade 2 Canadian for Graham Motion, and Beach Flower (post 6, Gabriel Saez), a likely front-runner who was disqualified from first in the 2018 Dowager for deep-stretch interference after leading every step under Landeros.

Rounding out the lineup are Ambitious Moon, Over Thinking, Icy Calm, Sea Dream, Decorating, Get Explicit, and Vevina.

Ambitious Moon, in from Canada for trainer Rachel Halden, is the lone supplementary entry, having been made eligible by way of a late $3,750 payment.

Weight assignments range from 118 to 123 pounds under allowance conditions.

The Dowager, sponsored since 2003 by the nearby Rood & Riddle equine hospital, is the last turf stakes of the year at Keeneland. It’s the eighth of nine races on a card that starts at 1:05 p.m. Eastern and is the feature of Heroes Day, when all first responders and their families are admitted here free. The forecast calls for mostly sunny skies and a high of 73.

After Sunday, Keeneland goes dark for two days before the final four-day stretch of the meet starts Wednesday. The Grade 2 Fayette ends the meet Saturday, with Churchill Downs starting its fall meet Sunday with a Stars of Tomorrow card of all 2-year-old races.