Southdale may target Dominion Day

Southdale, sidelined by injury after finishing second in the 1 1/8-mile Plate Trial here last year, continued his impressive comeback with a sharp three-quarter-length score in Saturday's Grade 3, 1 1/16-mile Eclipse.

Coming off a first-level allowance victory at six furlongs here May 8 in his first start in more than 11 months, Southdale, ridden by his Emma-Jayne Wilson, defeated a solid field of seasoned stakes winners in the $176,500 Eclipse.

"We always knew he could be as good as any horse here, if he ever got the opportunity to show it," said trainer Ian Black. "He ran a great race, and he beat some pretty nice horses."

The next two-turn Polytrack stakes for older males here is the July 1 Dominion Day, a 1 1/4-mile race which offers Grade 3 status and a purse of $200,000.

"With the way he finished up and galloped out, I couldn't see any reason why we wouldn't do that with him," said Black.