Dream Tree Shrugs Off Layoff to Win Prioress
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Photo: Coglianese Photos
Dream Tree wins the Prioress Stakes at Saratoga Race Course
There were ample question marks surrounding Phoenix Thoroughbred's undefeated Dream Tree entering the $250,000 Prioress Stakes (G2) Sept. 2 at Saratoga Race Course.
She was returning from a nearly seven-month layoff and was shipping out of California for the first time.
In the stretch run of the six-furlong sprint for 3-year-old fillies, any concern was washed away as the daughter of Uncle Mo powered away to win by 4 1/4 lengths over slight favorite Mia Mischief.
After a poor break when she came in and bumped fellow Southern California shipper Moonshine Memories, Dream Tree raced just off Mia Mischief at the front of the field, pulled ahead by a half-length at the furlong pole, and extended her advantage to the wire under jockey Mike Smith.
Dream Tree, who won the Starlet Stakes (G1) in December and the Las Virgenes Stakes (G2) in February, was taken off the road to the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) in March because of an unspecified issue.
"She brought it today," said winning trainer Bob Baffert. "She had been training so well, and we were debating on running her (at Del Mar) in a stakes on closing day or take her to Saratoga. (We) decided to give her a shot since she was doing so well. I'm just glad she shipped well and is still undefeated. That freshening really helped her. She's really matured a lot. She showed today how good she really is."
Mia Mischief set pressured fractions of :22.30 and :44.93 through a half-mile, and Dream Tree finished the distance in 1:09.50.
"She gave me goosebumps, to be honest," said Smith, who took over riding duties from Drayden Van Dyke. "I had never ridden her in the afternoon. I was fortunate enough to work her one morning, so I knew she was really talented, but I didn't realize she was this talented.
"You go back and look at some of the fillies that she's beat, and she's beaten some really, really good fillies. So the only thing that worried me a little bit was the long layoff, but she handled that well within herself."
Moonshine Memories, after her troubled start, rallied well from last in the eight-filly field to finish third, a head behind Mia Mischief. Sower, Cathedral Reader, Purrfect Miss, Classy Act, and Win the War completed the order of finish.
Bred in Kentucky by Mike Freeny and Pat Freeny, out of the Afleet Alex mare Afleet Maggi, Dream Tree has $527,500 in earnings to go along with her 5-for-5 record. She was a $750,000 purchase out of Fasig-Tipton's The Gulfstream Sale in 2017.