Unbeaten Law N Dora tries stakes
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The undefeated Law N Dora heads a field of seven 3-year-olds set to run six furlongs in Monday's $75,000 Jimmy Winkfield Stakes at Aqueduct. The Winkfield is the featured event on a nine-race Martin Luther King Jr. Day card that also includes the $65,000 Thepromonroe, marking the return of the undefeated New York-bred sprinter Bustin Stones.
Owner David Simon and trainer Alan Seewald claimed Law N Dora for $40,000 from Steve Asmussen on Oct. 9 at the Meadowlands. That night, Law N Dora won by 6 1/2 lengths.
Seewald said he and Simon claimed Law N Dora based on the colt's breeding - he's a son of Silver Deputy out of the Lord at War mare Lady Dora - and the fact that Asmussen had been sending out live runners all meet.
Law N Dora has demonstrated versatility in his two starts for Seewald, registering a front-running victory in a starter handicap over Aqueduct's main track before coming off the pace to win a first-level allowance over the inner track.
On Nov. 15, Law N Dora, built on the smallish side, was bounced around by horses on either side of him before making the lead and fending off two pace challenges. In the Dec. 12 race, Law N Dora broke slowly from the rail and sat off horses under Edgar Prado before finding room in the stretch and drawing clear by two.
"For him to get knocked around like that and still win, that impressed me about him," Seewald said. "The second time he didn't break that sharp; Edgar just sat there, he took dirt in his face, and when it was time for him to go, he got out and he just left the field."
The speed of the field appears to be Accredit, who rebounded from a terrible debut to win a six-furlong maiden race on the front end, running six furlongs in 1:10.18. On Jan. 13, he worked a speedy four furlongs in 47.21 seconds over Belmont's training track.
* In Thepromonroe, Bustin Stones, who won all three of his starts last year, makes his first start since undergoing double knee surgery last spring. He faces the multiple stakes winner Gold and Roses and five others.