Dortmund Takes Big Bear in Santa Anita Return

Back in his comfort zone on the West Coast, Dortmund returned to racing Oct. 24 doing what he does best—winning at Santa Anita Park.

In his first race since a far-back fourth in the Xpressbet.com Preakness Stakes (gr. I), the massive son of Big Brown   trained by Bob Baffert calmly sat just off the early pace in the $70,000 Big Bear Stakes, took the lead exiting the final turn, and maintained his advantage to the wire, besting hard-closing Point Piper by 1 3/4 lengths to improve his record at Santa Anita to 5-for-5.

In his first start against older horses, the Kaleem Shah-owned colt hit the wire with jockey Martin Garcia in 1:36.42 for a mile on the same dirt course where he won the Robert B. Lewis (gr. III), San Felipe (gr. II), and Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) while prepping for the Triple Crown.

"He's back," Garcia said. "I didn't think he was going to need a race. I knew he was going to come back strong. ... Not for a moment did I think he was going to get beat and I rode him with so much confidence."

Off at 1-5, the winner paid $2.60, $2.10, and $2.10 across the board. Point Piper brought $3.20 and $2.40, while Motown Men, 2 1/2 lengths back in third, delivered $2.40 to show.

Dortmund, Motown Men, and Soi Phet all vied for the lead into the first turn, with Dortmund three wide before he settled into position, a half-length behind, on the backstretch. Soi Phet set the pace with fractions of :23.58 and :47.27 through a half-mile before Dortmund took over to run six furlongs in 1:11.75.

"He has a lot of speed and I liked the way he relaxed," Baffert said. "We always thought that he didn't necessarily need the lead. He's a big horse and he's learning how to relax a bit more.

"Unfortunately we can't run in the Breeders' Cup. Maybe the (Dirt) Mile would have been a great spot for him. I think he's going to get better."

Soi Phet tired to finish fourth, followed by Mystery Train, to complete the order of finish. Cat Burglar was scratched.

Now with a 7-0-1 record from nine starts—his two loses coming to stablemate American Pharoah—Dortmund is expected to race next in the $500,000 Clark Handicap (gr. I) Nov. 27 at Churchill Downs. The Big Bear victory pushed his earnings to just more than $1.6 million.