2 Months After His Brother Won the Kentucky Derby, Unraced Colt Looks to Make His Mark in Major Equestrian Event
A young horse from a family of legends is all set to make his debut. In the world of equestrian sports, when an equine athlete hails from a lineage of legends, fans’ anticipation soars, and expectations run high for their performance. His father has multiple accolades to his name and is one of the best horses in the history of equestrian sports. His mother has raced at some of the major tracks, like Aqueduct. His sibling is paving a path of its own and has started by winning the toughest stakes race of them all, the Kentucky Derby.
Coming from a family of legendary horses, with everything in place, he is poised to make his debut in an upcoming prestigious event.
Another major equestrian debutant
As reported by Blood Horse, Dornoch, the younger brother of Grade I 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage, is all set to make his first start at the Saratoga race course. Trained by Danny Gargan and owned by West Paces Racing, R.A. Hill Stable, Belmar Racing, and Two Eights Racing, the colt will take part in a 6 1/2-furlong maiden special weight race for colts on the main track of Saratoga. Talking about his debut, Gargan stated, “We just want to get him started. He’s going to be a two-turn horse.” He further added, “He isn’t the fastest out of the gate, but I think he’s a very talented horse. I want to get this race in him and then stretch him out.”
Dornoch arrived in May in the barn Gargan to start his training; his first recorded workout at the Spa took place on May 16. He is training consistently with a positive attitude, including a three-furlong move in :38 4/5 at the Oklahoma training track. He breezed half a mile from the gate in an impressive :46 2/5; it was the fastest of the 119 distances recorded. He was purchased for a whopping $325,000 by Oracle Bloodstock from the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
The equine athlete’s family legacy
With odds of 2-1, Dornoch is the morning line favorite and will make his first career start from post 4, accompanied by Luis Saez. Dornoch is sired by Big Magic out of the Big Brown mare Puca. His father has a career rating of 8.14 stars; he has raced at tracks like Belmont Park, Churchill Downs, and Monmouth Park. He has two Grade I 2008 Preakness Stakes and two Grade I 2008 Haskell Stakes to his name and has career earnings of over $2,945,000.
His sibling Mage made its debut this year on January 28th and has a career rating of 8.01 in six starts and career earnings of over $2,488,700. So it looks like Dornoch already has some big equine shoes to fill, and fans and owners will have high hopes and expectations for him.
