Wonder Gadot takes first step toward Apple Blossom

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – O Canada!

Wonder Gadot, who won two-thirds of her country’s Triple Crown in 2018 to establish herself as a leading contender for Canadian Horse of the Year, launches her 4-year-old season Friday at Oaklawn Park.

“The Apple Blossom is one of the reasons she’s there,” trainer Mark Casse said Tuesday of the meet’s Grade 1, $750,000 fixture for fillies and mares April 14.

Wonder Gadot is a finalist for Canada’s champion 3-year-old filly of 2018 after defeating males in both the $1 million Queen’s Plate at Woodbine and $400,000 Prince of Wales at Fort Erie. She earned more than $1.1 million last year, and among her other efforts was a runner-up finish in the Kentucky Oaks. Canada will announce its Sovereign Award winners at a ceremony April 18.

But before the ball, Wonder Gadot has some business to attend to Friday. She’s part of a field of seven fillies and mares in the eighth race, an optional $50,000 claiming route at a mile that carries third-level allowance conditions. Her rivals include Clever Serve, winner of the $100,000 She’s All In at Remington Park; Go Google Yourself, runner-up in the $100,000 Dogwood at Churchill Downs; and Rose of Malibu, a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Shotgun Gulch.

Wonder Gadot will be making her first start since she set the pace and finished ninth in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 3 at Churchill.

“I was expecting a big effort in the Breeders’ Cup,” Casse said. “I thought she trained well over that track, and she had run a tremendous race in the Oaks. I was disappointed, and we gave her time.

“We gave her like 30 days of some round pen and some eating grass. It doesn’t take her long to get back in action. She’s one horse that just truly loves to train.”

Wonder Gadot prepped some in Florida and has since had a chance to log a pair of five-eighths works at Oaklawn, where last year she was second by a nose in the Grade 2, $400,000 Fantasy. She will break from post 6 on Friday under David Cohen.

The race ends at the sixteenth pole, and while the mile feels too short for a filly whose biggest wins have come at 1 1/8 miles or more, she is the undisputed class of the field Friday.

“It’s a starting point,” Casse said. “I like the mile. Is it a little short? Maybe a touch, but remember, she’s coming off a layoff and it’s not her ultimate goal. This is a first step. But I’m not going to give her an excuse. She’s fit and ready.

“A lot of training horses is playing the cards that are dealt to you. We don’t get to pick the exact races. We take what is given to us and play the hand that’s dealt. We’re hoping to see her regain some of that form she had last summer, and be running in big races, and this is just the first step.”

Wonder Gadot, who at 2 won the Grade 2 Demoiselle, is a daughter of Medaglia d’Oro who races for Gary Barber.