Ky. Derby prep: Dornoch loses lead, gets it back, wins Remsen
Dornoch dug down deep and, in an exhilarating photo finish, defeated rapidly closingSierra Leone in Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Remsen Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile testfor 2-year-olds prepping at Aqueduct for Kentucky Derby 2024.
Dornoch,who seemingly was beaten by his rival inside the sixteenth pole when SierraLeone went by him, courageously re-rallied on the fence under strong urging byLuis Sáez and secured the trophy for owners West Paces Racing, R.A. HillStable, Belmar Racing and Breeding, Two Eight Racing and Pine Racing Stables.
Trainedby Danny Gargan, the winner of the 2022 Remsen with Dubyuhnell, Dornoch took amajor step toward the first Saturday in May by earning 10 qualifying points onthe road to the 150th Derby. The bay colt by Good Magic out of the Big Brownmare Puca is a full brother to 2023 Kentucky Derby victor Mage.
Hesimply refused to lose.
On amuddy, sealed track that had been playing kindly to inside speed all afternoon,he went to the lead in the 10-horse field and set fleet fractions of 23.09,46.97, 1:11:56 and 1:37.42. He looked like the sure winner late in the race,but then Sierra Leone came storming wide from all the way at the back of thepack and was gaining ground with every stride under José Ortiz.
The twocolts engaged in a fierce battle to the wire. Sierra Leone, a $2.3 millionyearling purchase trained by Chad Brown, came up just short by a nose.
“It waspretty good fractions. I had everyone on top right there, but he was prettycomfortable. When he has pressure, he’s OK. But when he feels alone, he kind oflook around. But he’s learning. He’s a pretty good horse," Sáez said.“He’s a pretty nice horse, but I feel like he’s still learning. When he kind offeels a little alone, he was a little lost. As soon as (Sierra Leone) came tohim, he saw him, and he want to beat him. I can’t describe this. He wants towin the race.
“Josétried to close, but he’s a big horse, and he got through. It’s pretty difficultto come back, but he has a big stride, and two jumps he was right there. I waspretty surprised. Every day, you learn something new from horses, and this is apretty special horse. Last time he kind of was the same, but he ran withdifferent horses. Today was a pretty tough race, and he proved that he’s apretty good horse.”
Twostarts back Dornoch was the runner-up in Monmouth Park’s Sapling with KendrickCarmouche up. In his last effort he was the dominant, 6 1/2-length winner of a1 1/16-mile maiden race at Keeneland on Oct. 14, never switching leads andrunning greenly. He was significantly more professional in the Remsen.
“Kendricktold me, when he rode him at Monmouth, he said, ‘Danny, if I had more time.’When he saw the horse go by him, he said he gets to playing around, which hebounced off the rail today, and when he gets out there by himself, he losesfocus. He said if he sees another horse, he’s going to run back to him, andtoday he proved it,” said Gargan, who called Dornoch the best horse he ever hastrained. “It was something that was always said but never proven until today,but that was pretty impressive, because I thought the other horse went way pasthim. For him to dig in and fight back like that, especially after the half-milein 46 (seconds), three quarters in 1:11, he ran the whole race.”
Dornoch’sfinal time for the 1 1/8 miles was 1:50.30.
SierraLeone, who earned five Derby qualifying points, finished 4 3/4 lengths in frontof Drum Roll Please, who got three points. Moonlight with two points, Where'sChris with one, Copper Tax, Domestic Product, Billal, Le Dom Bro and PrivateDancer rounded out the order of finish.
Ortizsaid he was pleased with the trip he engineered for Sierra Leone.
“Hebroke good, they went plenty fast. He just sit there, he was relaxed,” Ortizsaid. “I make a move at the half a mile, and he responded nicely. He waslugging in a little bit in the stretch, and (Dornoch) looked like he waswaiting. When he felt me, he came back. I think it was a good race from (SierraLeone). My horse kept coming. He ran a bit greenly, but I’m proud of him. Itwas a big step up.”
Abouthis wide bid into the stretch, Ortiz said, “He was running so good to the otherhorses, and I didn’t want to get him stopped. So I went wide with him.”
DrumRoll Please, a Brad Cox trainee and maiden winner last out, was trying stakescompany and the distance for the first time. His rider Hall of Famer JavierCastellano was pleased with the colt.
“Iloved my trip,” Castellano said “I liked the way he did it. He stepped up inclass and did it very professionally. He ran two turns for the first time. Iliked the way he did it from the beginning until the end. He passed horses, wasbehind horses, took dirt in the face, was a great experience for him,especially with a lot of horses and a lot of kickback. It was very nice andprofessional.”
Gargan,who said the owners were lucky to get the $325,000 yearling buy, outlined whatis next for Dornoch on the way to the run for the roses and the Triple Crowncampaign.
“He’s abig, big horse,” Gargan said. “We are going to give him some time off and takehim down to Palm Meadows, kind of like Nick Zito taught me when I was hisassistant. We will tack walk him for a couple weeks, two to three weeks, playaround with him, let him grow into that frame and start looking for raceslater, probably sometime in March. Two races, maybe three before the Derby. He'sa very special horse.”
Bred inKentucky by Grandview Equine, Dornoch banked $137,500 in victory whileimproving his record to 4: 2-2-0. He returned $5.40 for a $2 win bet.
Thinkingabout the Kentucky Derby while standing in the winner’s circle, co-owner RandyHill said, “This is the first leg of a long journey, I hope.”
