Dortmund undeniable in Robert B. Lewis
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Photo:
Matt Scott
Taking their rivalry to a second track, Dortmund and Firing Line turned the stretch run of the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes into
their own private battle. Midway through the stretch, Dortmund looked beaten,
but the game colt dug down deep, battled back and snatched victory out of the
teeth of defeat.
Out of the gate, Tizcano established the early lead with
Dortmund in close pursuit. After an opening quarter of :23.18, Dortmund took
over the lead. The half went up in :46.80, and with about a half mile left to
run, Firing Line moved up to Dortmund and the pair moved into the far turn in
tandem.
At the top of the lane, Firing Lane struck the front and
looked home free. But with less than an eighth of a mile left to run, Dortmund
battled back on the rail and got the win by a measured head. The final time for
the 1 1/16 mile was 1:42.20. Only a head separated the two rivals at the wire,
but they were head and shoulders better than the rest of the small field,
finishing 21 ½ lengths clear of 3rd place finisher Rock Shandy. Hero
Ten All and Tizcano completed the order of finish. Sebastian’s Heart was
scratched.
Winning jockey Martin Garcia said after the race, “He’s a
really good horse. He’s just a big baby; he’s still learning. I broke sharp and
I put myself in a good position. When I asked him to go he started moving
slowly. It looked like Firing Line went by me but in the end, when I asked him,
my horse started coming back. Firing Line gave us pressure but my horse just
took off again.”
Gary Stevens, who was aboard second place finisher Firing
Line, exited the race regretfully. “I was disappointed. I saw that Martin was
asking his horse and he wasn’t getting any response and I was sitting there
with a lot of horse,” he explained. “I thought I would never say I moved too
early at the eighth pole in a dirt race, but I moved too early. At the
three-eighths, I saw Dortmund wasn’t responding and I was smiling. I said we’ll
see what he does and we were opening up and he (Dortmund) was idling. I thought
we buried the one we had to beat, then I saw the shadow coming back at me.”
As the favorite, Dortmund paid $3.20/$2.10/$2.10. Second
choice Firing Line returned $2.20/$2.10 and a show bet on the third choice Rock
Shandy was worth $2.10. The $1 exacta paid $2.30, the $1 trifecta returned
$3.90 and the $1 superfecta was worth a mere $6.70.
Winning trainer Bob Baffert was thrilled by the stretch run.
“It was exciting, because I thought we were beat, and when he came back like it
make me really appreciate it a lot more,” he said. “It makes it sweeter because
going in I thought he was the best horse, then that horse (Firing Line) went by
him and I thought maybe he’s not as good as I thought. This was a point when
you find out, ‘Shall I stay on the bus or get off at the stop.’”
By Big Brown and out of the Tale of the Cat mare Our
Josephina, Dortmund is owned by Kaleem Shah. After not meeting his reserve as a
weanling in the Keeneland 2012 Breeding Stock Sale, consignor Bona Terra Stud
brought the colt back as a yearling in the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July Yearling
Sale. There he was picked up for $90,000 by Breaking Point Farm, who pinhooked
the colt into the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2014 Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale.
It was there that Kaleem Shah picked up his undefeated runner for $140,000.
Today’s win improved Dortmund’s record to a perfect 4 for 4 with purse earnings
of $449,400.
For their first through fourth place finishes, Dortmund,
Firing Line, Rock Shandy and Hero Ten All received 10, 4, 2 and 1 Kentucky
Derby points respectively. Winning owner Kaleem Shah has indicated that
Dortmund will likely make his next start in the Grade 1 San Felipe on March 7.
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