Dogtag Takes Hilltop, Completed Pass Wins McKay
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Photo: Jim McCue / Maryland Jockey Club
Dogtag wins the Hilltop Stakes at Pimlico Race Course
Fresh off the layoff, Dogtag kept the hot streak alive May 17 at Pimlico Race Course for the Roth family's LNJ Foxwoods.
Just one race after winning the Adena Springs Miss Preakness Stakes (G3) with Covfefe, the Roths returned to the winner's circle when their homebred War Front filly took home the $100,000 Maker's Mark Hilltop Stakes.
Dogtag made it a Chad Brown-trained exacta when she turned back 2-1 favorite Nova Sol with a strong late rally to win the one-mile turf test by 1 3/4 lengths. She was making her first start since placing fourth in the Sept. 30 Miss Grillo Stakes (G2T) at Belmont Park, which was her second loss after being placed third on debut in August at Saratoga Race Course and then winning the P.G. Johnson Stakes.
It was the fourth win on the Black-Eyed Susan Day card for jockey Javier Castellano, who deftly guided Dogtag from eighth to first. The gray filly was shuffled back soon after the break as longshot Souper Escape took the lead to set opening fractions of :23.32 and :47.53, but Castellano bided his time and angled his mount into the two path entering the far turn. Once three-quarters went in 1:11.64, Dogtag was poised to pounce and took over from Fashion Faux Pas, who briefly inherited the lead after pressing the pace early.
Nova Sol was making a late run of her own, coming off a seven-month layoff and making her first North American start, but she could not edge her stablemate. Fashion Faux Pas held for third behind a final time of 1:36.71 on turf rated good.
"I'm really happy to have Dogtag back in the winner's circle," said Jaime Roth, who manages her family's stable. "She had some time off, and we skipped the Breeders' Cup. It wasn't a matter of talent or class; I don't think she liked the yielding ground (in her last start). I was watching the race from a weird spot, so I wasn't sure when she had it won. I was just rooting for the finish line. We haven't discussed anything as to her next start."
Dogtag was sent off at odds of 3-1 and returned $8.20 on a $2 win ticket. The start of the race was briefly delayed by the gate scratch of Her Royal Highness.
Bred in Kentucky out of the Unbridled's Song mare Diamond Necklace, Dogtag improved her earnings to $137,200 and her record to two wins from four starts. Her dam produced a Super Saver filly in 2017 and a Tapit filly April 5.
"I give all the credit to Mr. Brown," Castellano said. "He did a great job of bringing her back since the layoff and performing the way she did today. It's amazing. She's a very good filly, and the way she performed today, I was very fortunate to be along for the ride."
Jim McKay Turf Sprint the Charm for Completed Pass
Indiana-bred Completed Pass did breeder Swifty Farms proud Friday when he picked up his first stakes score in the $100,000 Jim McKay Turf Sprint Stakes. Now campaigned by owner Robert D. Bone and trainer Claudio Gonzalez, the son of Pass Rush was knocking at the door after a runner-up finish in the April 20 King T. Leatherbury Stakes at Laurel Park and four consecutive allowance-level wins prior to that.
With Victor Carrasco in the irons, the 6-5 choice in a field of six was three deep early through a :21.39 quarter, then dueled outside with American Sailor to gain a slim lead after a :45.13 half. Completed Pass edged clear under a drive near the sixteenth marker of the five-furlong turf sprint and held firm for a one-length win despite lugging in deep stretch. The final time was :57.35 on turf rated good.
Tempt Me Twice, a 30-1 shot, kept on gamely for the place. It was three-quarters of a length back to Tricks to Doo, who completed the trifecta.
Completed Pass, who returned $4.40 on a $2 win ticket, is 3-for-4 since joining Gonzalez's barn this year.
"All the time he showed to me a lot of speed, that's why we put him in the sprint when we took him to Charles Town (for an allowance win at 4 1/2 furlongs)," Gonzalez said. "He proved he could run. Then we tried him on grass, and he ran big the last time. Today, he had tough competition, but with the scratches we had (of Bound for Nowhere, Pure Sensation, and New York's Finest), we thought he had a big chance. He's a little funny. He doesn't switch leads at the right time. But I know he can run."
Out of the Gold Token mare Christina's Gold, Completed Pass improved his record to six wins and two seconds from nine starts, with earnings of $188,030. Christina's Gold has been barren on multiple covers, with her last reported foal the winning Misremembered filly Coins of Gold, foaled in 2015. She was bred to Airoforce for 2019.