Shes Our Fastest seeks rebound in Darby's Daughter

Direct Dial and Shes Our Fastest both get a shot at restricted stakes company for the first time Saturday night when they run in separate divisions of the Texas Stallion Stakes at Retama Park near San Antonio.

Direct Dial enters the colts-and-geldings division off two stakes starts in New York, while Shes Our Fastest goes in the fillies division after facing open stakes rivals in Louisiana and Oklahoma.

The races Saturday are for 2-year-olds and are restricted to the offspring of eligible stallions. Each will be over six furlongs, and each has a purse of $65,000. The My Dandy division is for colts and geldings, while fillies are featured in the Darby’s Daughter.

Shes Our Fastest is the most accomplished horse in either division by virtue of her win in the $50,000 Evangeline Downs Princess on Sept. 2 in Opelousas, La. She has long been a candidate for the Texas Stallion Stakes, trainer Scott Gelner said.

“She’s eligible for the series, and when we bought her we always had that in the back of our minds,” he said. “She’s eligible for the race at Retama, the one at Sam Houston, and back at Lone Star.”

Shes Our Fastest enters the Retama race off an uncharacteristic sixth-place finish in the $50,000 E.L. Gaylord on Oct. 13 at Remington Park. It was her first loss after she won the first two starts of her career by a combined 8 1/4 lengths, including a maiden special weight at Prairie Meadows.

“I think you can kind of just draw a line through that race,” Gelner said of the E.L. Gaylord.

Dusty Shepherd will ride Shes Our Fastest, a daughter of Oratory owned by Mark Norman and Norman Stables. She will break from post 2.

“She can sit and stalk,” Gelner said. “You can kind of do what you want with her.”

The field of six for the Darby’s Daughter division includes speed horse Miss Hopper, the fourth-place finisher in the E.L. Gaylord, and Howboutthiscowgirl, fifth in the recent La Senorita at Retama.

Direct Dial was a debut winner at Keeneland in April and from there ran second in the $150,000 Tremont on June 9 at Belmont Park. He has made one more start since, finishing seventh behind Breeders’ Cup Juvenile entrants Firenze Fire and Free Drop Billy in the Grade 3 Sanford on July 22 at Saratoga.

Jareth Loveberry has the mount for W.S. Farish and trainer Steve Asmussen.

Others making up the seven-horse field include Toledo Pache, the third-place finisher in the $105,000 male division of the Texas Thoroughbred Futurity in July at Lone Star Park, and Kats Second Silver, a 9 3/4-length maiden special winner at the same track in July.