Looking forward to Big Things from Dortmund
The 2015 racing season was a great one, but the problem is, it’s almost over. That fact of life got me thinking about next year. Sure, there will be a whole new cast of Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks characters in which to get excited about next spring, but what about the older horses? He may not be older yet, but one horse whom I cannot wait to see what he can do at four is the big, bad son of Big Brown, we know as Dortmund.
While I believe that the sky's the limit for the imposing chestnut as an older horse, the even better news is that we will not have to wait until next year to see what he can do. A small coming attraction was revealed recently when the Kaleem Shah owned colt returned from a layoff of more than five months to dominate older horses in the Big Bear Stakes at Santa Anita. Much more of the true Dortmund should be revealed when he faces a better class of older horses in the Grade 1 Clark Handicap on November 27 at Churchill Downs.
The winner of 7-of-9 lifetime, the Clark will be the third visit to the Louisville oval in Dortmund’s young career. Six months ago, the Bob Baffert charge arrived here as one of the brightest young stars in racing. Still unbeaten after a dominating score in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby, he rightfully lined up for this year’s Kentucky Derby as one of the horses to beat. We all know what happened that afternoon, as Dortmund finished just ahead of Frosted for a third place finish. It was a strong performance, but not strong enough, as the winner American Pharoah set sail on a season that will ultimately see him join racing’s small fraternity of all-time greats.
While that Bob Baffert star set the world on fire on his way to a lucrative second career as a stallion, it will be Dortmund that comes back in hopes of eventually joining his stablemate as a champion. Another nearly six months before that meeting with American Pharoah, remember that Churchill Downs is the place where Dortmund announced himself as a bona fide Kentucky Derby contender with an eye-catching juvenile win against allowance company. The 7 ¾ length romp in fast time last November was enough to instantly make Dortmund one of the early favorites for the Run for the Roses. Now coming back to Louisville a year later, it seems that Dortmund has come full circle, and is primed and ready to make another run at big things.
Granted the Big Bear did not offer the cream of the crop as far as competition goes, but it did tell us that Dortmund still possesses everything that made him a popular, multiple Grade 1 winner, before the layoff. Just look at the way his rider Martin Garcia confidently handled him from start to finish of the one-mile listed stakes race.