Vale Dori ready to emerge as a force in Bayakoa
DEL MAR, Calif. – With Beholder retired and Songbird and Stellar Wind getting vacations, the time is right for Vale Dori to make a significant impact on the local older female division, beginning in the Grade 2, $200,000 Bayakoa Handicap on Saturday at Del Mar.
Vale Dori was no match for Stellar Wind and Beholder when finishing a distant third in the Grade 1 Zenyatta on Oct. 1, a race that convinced her trainer, Bob Baffert, that bypassing the Breeders’ Cup Distaff was the prudent move.
“That race was coming up tough,” Baffert said Thursday.
Instead, Vale Dori ran in an optional-claiming race at Santa Anita on Oct. 28 and crushed her opposition by 10 lengths. That was her second win in four starts since Baffert took over as her trainer, and he expects Vale Dori to continue her good progress on Saturday and into 2017.
“She’s starting to mature,” Baffert said of Vale Dori, who was bred in Argentina and raced there and in Dubai before finding her way to North America. “When we first had her, she was flighty. She’s matured a lot. I think she’ll be even better next year.”
Vale Dori was assigned the top weight of 123 pounds for the Bayakoa, a 1 1/16-mile race that drew eight older females.
Her primary rival is Gloryzapper, who was well beaten in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint last time out but beat Vale Dori in an allowance race at Del Mar back in August. Wild At Heart moves back to the main track after a failed experiment on turf in the Grade 3 Sen. Ken Maddy on the hillside course at Santa Anita.
The Bayakoa kicks off a terrific pick four that includes the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby, a deep maiden race for 2-year-olds, and a competitive turf allowance. The final three races all have fields of at least 12.
Bayakoa, Race 6
KEY CONTENDERS
Vale Dori, by Asiatic Boy
Last 3 Beyers: 95-91-93
◗ She was highly regarded when she arrived in the spring and seems far better now than when she met Gloryzapper in her U.S. debut in August.
◗ With Rafael Bejarano still sidelined with an injured hand, Mike Smith has picked up the mount.
Gloryzapper, by Ghostzapper
Last 3 Beyers: 75-92-89
◗ She has won all three of her dirt starts at Del Mar, all in sprints. She has finished second in her only two dirt tries around two turns.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 3 Gloryzapper. Earned a first-call Moss Pace Figure of 96 in her last start, the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, a figure 26 points higher than anyone else in the field posted in their prior start. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Wild At Heart, by Indian Charlie
Last 3 Beyers: 81-91-82
◗ Smith abandoned her to ride Vale Dori, but trainer Richard Mandella found a pretty decent replacement in Javier Castellano, who is in for the weekend.
◗ She finished second to Gloryzapper in the Grade 3 L.A. Woman going 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita on Oct. 9.