Dortmund Cruises Wire-to-Wire in San Felipe
Image:
Description:
Dortmund preserved his undefeated record March 7, cruising gate-to-wire in the $400,000 San Felipe Stakes (gr. II) at Santa Anita Park .
The imposing son of 2008 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner Big Brown has won five in a row and looms an impressive contender for Kaleem Shah and Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert on the road to this year's Run for the Roses. His 50 points earned in the San Felipe punched him up to third on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 70, behind Gotham Stakes (gr. II) winner El Kabeir and Risen Star (gr. II) victor International Star.
Baffert, who won a record fifth edition of the San Felipe, also has 2-year-old champion American Pharoah on the Derby trail. The Zayat Stables runner is pointing toward a start in the March 14 Rebel Stakes (gr. II) at Oaklawn Park.
''It's like asking which kid I love more,'' Baffert said when asked to compare the runners. ''They're two different horses.''
Dortmund has learned to relax in recent starts, conserving his brilliant speed before kicking determinedly for home. In the Feb. 7 Robert B. Lewis Stakes (gr. III) he rallied determinedly up the rail to win by a head over Firing Line.
''He's starting to fill out, get stronger,'' Baffert said. ''He's so big the worst thing they can do is take him back and get him behind a wall of horses. He was doing it pretty easily.''
Dortmund broke alertly in the 1 1/16-mile San Felipe and held a comfortable lead while clicking through fractions of :23.12, :46.98, and 1:11.30. Jockey Martin Garcia sat chilly until challenged by Bolo to the outside coming off the turn, then urged his mount homeward with a few cracks of the left-handed stick.
The long-striding chestnut kicked clear through a 1:35.51 mile to finish 1 1/4 lengths ahead in 1:41.65 on a fast track.
''It looks easy because he's such a good horse,'' Garcia said. ''I'm always confident because I know how good he is.''
Dortmund, favored at 4-5 in a group of 10, returned $3.60, $2.60, and $2.20. The late-closing Prospect Park ($3.80, $3.40) was next, and left jockey Kent Desormeaux itching for a rematch. The two could meet again in the Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) on April 4.
"They got the battle," Desormeaux said. "We'll win the war."
Bolo was another half-length back in third and paid $4.60 to show.
"Dortmund is a great horse, no doubt about it," said Victor Espinoza, who rode Bolo. "Just for a moment there at the top of the stretch I thought we could beat him, but he's too tough."
Following were Lord Nelson, The Gomper, Pulmarack, Pain and Misery, Ocho Ocho Ocho (who lost for the first time after winning his first three races), Sir Samson, and Kenjisstorm.
Winner of the Dec. 20 Los Alamitos Futurity (gr. I) to close out his 2-year-old season, Dortmund was a $140,000 purchase last spring at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale by Donato Lanni, agent, from the consignment of Breaking Point Farm, which purchased the colt for $90,000 at the 2013 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July yearling sale.
His sire, Eclipse Award 3-year-old champion male Big Brown, stands at New York's Dutchess Views Farm in 2015 after previously shuttling between Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky and Vinery Australia. Dortmund's dam, Our Josephina, was a graded stakes-placed performer who earned more than $190,000. She has produced four winners from five starters, with Dortmund her first stakes victor.
Dortmund was bred in Kentucky by Emilie Gerlinde Fojan and improved his earnings to $689,400.