Dalika Returns to Site of Grade 1 Win for Cardinal

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 11/19/2022 - 15:09
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Dalika Returns to Site of Grade 1 Win for Cardinal
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Photo: Coady Photography
Dalika wins the Beverly D. Stakes at Churchill Downs

One of the final grass stakes of the Churchill Downs fall season could very well be the career bow for Bel Mar Equine’s Dalika  as she returns to the site of her Beverly D. Stakes (G1T) triumph in the Nov. 24 $300,000 Cardinal Stakes (G3T).

Owner Paul Varga previously indicated that 2022 would be her last season of racing. Since acquiring the daughter of Pastorius  after her juvenile campaign in France and sending her to U.S. trainer Al Stall Jr., Dalika has collected eight wins from 27 starts.

A stakes winner as a 4- and 5-year-old, she soared to new heights as a 6-year-old this year, capturing back-to-back graded stakes wins in the Beverly D. and Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf Stakes (G3T), the latter race pushing her earnings past $1 million.

Opting to skip the Breeders’ Cup, Dalika last ran in the Fall Harvest Stakes presented by Mint Gaming Hall on the Classic undercard at Keeneland, where she faded to finish sixth.

Brian Hernandez Jr. retains the mount.

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A mare who has done her best running on the front end, Dalika will have to contend with Godolphin’s Adventuring  for pacesetting honors in Thursday’s 1 1/8-mile turf test. The 4-year-old Adventuring is a multi-dimensional stakes winner, with victories over the Polytrack, slop, and turf for trainer Brad Cox. Two starts back she wired the field in the AGS Ladies Marathon Stakes (G3T) at Kentucky Downs.

Ridden by Joel Rosario, Adventuring enters off a sneaky-good fourth in the E.P. Taylor Stakes (G1T) at Woodbine.

Rounding out the field are Pass the Plate , Disappearing Act , Perseverancia , Lake Lucerne , Sunny One , Flippant , Curly Ruth , and Wave of Goodness . 


Entries: Cardinal S. (G3T)

Churchill Downs, Thursday, November 24, 2022, Race 11

  • Grade IIIT
  • 1 1/8m
  • Turf
  • $300,000
  • 3 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
  • 4:22 PM (local)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L
1 1Pass the Plate (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Joseph Talamo 123 Paul J. McGee 10/1
2 2Disappearing Act (KY) Corey J. Lanerie 121 Carlos Santamaria 30/1
3 3Perseverancia (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Julien R. Leparoux 121 Cherie DeVaux 12/1
4 4Lake Lucerne (KY) Tyler Gaffalione 121 Brendan P. Walsh 30/1
5 5Dalika (GER) Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. 125 Albert M. Stall, Jr. 2/1
6 6Adventuring (KY) Joel Rosario 125 Brad H. Cox 9/5
7 7Sunny One (KY) Vincent Cheminaud 123 Conor Murphy 8/1
8 8Flippant (KY) Rafael Bejarano 121 Victoria H. Oliver 12/1
9 9Curly Ruth (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Luis Saez 121 Eddie Kenneally 10/1
10 10Wave of Goodness (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Mitchell Murrill 121 Armando Hernandez 30/1