Breeder's Cup Distaff Thursday notes and quotes from Del Mar

 

Planned activity: She will do light work on Friday morning. 

 

The quote: “All good after her breeze yesterday.” – stable representative, Yohsitake Hashida 

 

 

Jockey: Luis Saez, Flavien Prat 

 

Morning activity: Both galloped an easy lap of Del Mar’s dirt track

 

Planned activity: More of the same.  

 

Quote: “All is well. We schooled Gin Gin, Clicquot and (Goldikova (G2)morning-line favorite) Special Wan, all three of my Saturday horses, this morning around 10 o’clock.” – Brendan Walsh 

 

Bringing a horse to the Breeders’ Cup requires a special horse, savvy management, and a little bit of luck. For Dorth Vader, a number of key decisions throughout her life have led to her being the third choice in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff.  

 

More than 18,400 foals born in the U.S. in 2020, but only a small handful of them will make it to the world stage at the Breeders’ Cup. As special as it is that Dorth Vader is here at Del Mar, it is made even more impressive considering her very existence is because of a litany of correct decisions.  

 

A Florida homebred for John Ropes, Dorth Vader is out of the eight-time winning Yonaguska mare Hardcore Candy, who had delivered a foal by Lea in 2019. When Ropes was evaluating stallions to breed Hardcore Candy back to, it was Ocala Stud’s David O’Farrell who encouraged Ropes to send the mare to Grade 1 winner Girvin, who was standing his first season at stud.

 

“We went to breed her dam at Ocala Stud and wanted to breed to another stallion,” said Ropes, who is the head of Ropes Associates, a real estate consulting and development company. “David O’Farrell said he really wanted me to see a different stallion and breed to him, and it was Girvin. I asked if he was sure about this, and he said, ‘I think this is going to be very good.’ ”  

 

The mating was a success, and Hardcore Candy became pregnant with Dorth Vader, but both the mare and her unborn foal were in peril when the mare developed foot problems during the pregnancy. Ropes said the situation was dire.  

 

“She came close to foundering,” Ropes said. “She was carrying Dorth and we were a week away from putting her down. Our blacksmith came pretty much every other day and said he was going to fix it, and he did that for over a month. Finally, he got her fixed, and the rest is history. We’ve been very careful with her feet since and take very good care of her.”  

 

Dorth Vader was born on Ropes’ Rosegrove Farm in Ocala, Fla., on March 24, 2020. As a yearling, she was sent to Gayle Woods to begin training for her racing career, with the initial intention to sell her at one of the 2-year-olds-in-training sales. But Dorth Vader caught the eye of Woods and showed talent early on.  

 

“When she was a yearling in training, the question was, ‘do we bring her to the 2-year-old sale?’ ” Ropes recalled. “Our trainer at the time, Gayle Woods, is a great 2-year-old trainer, and she said, ‘I think this filly can really run. You need to send her to the track.’ The rest was history. I’m very glad she said that.”  

 

The filly needed a name, and Ropes’ love of his life, Dorothy Harden, had been waiting for Ropes to name a horse after her. A fondness for the Star Wars franchise led to a clever pun on Dorothy’s name, and Dorth Vader was chosen.  

 

“The farm manager and I wrestled with a name, and we came up with Dorth, which was a good start,” Ropes said. “Then Vader fell into place, and Dorothy is a big Star Wars fan, so that’s how Dorth Vader came to be.”  

 

Ropes, who first became involved in horse racing in 1980, chose the right horse to name for his beloved. Dorth Vader initially was trained by Michael Yates and won four of her first seven starts, led by the Davona Dale (G2) in March 2023 at Gulfstream Park at odds of 46-1. She made one more start for Yates before being moved to the barn of current trainer George Weaver and finishing fifth in the Kentucky Oaks (G1). 

 

Since then, Dorth Vader has raced almost exclusively in graded company, and she performed admirably against top competition, proving her class with a head second to subsequent champion 3-year-old filly Pretty Mischievous in the Acorn Stakes (G1) at Saratoga. She ran only once in 2024 but came back this year to post a campaign that includes her first Grade 1 coup in Saratoga’s Ogden Phipps in June during the Belmont Stakes racing festival.   

 

“After I met her, I said, ‘this horse is going to be a champion,’” Harden said. “I believed in her. When she won for the first time, I was jumping and screaming. Her Davona Dale was unbelievable, and when she won, I was out of my skin. Then the Grade 1 was incredible. I gave her a little talk before the Ogden Phipps, so she just needed her encouragement.”  

 

Dorth Vader enters the Distaff from a nose second to last year’s horse of the year and Distaff winner Thorpedo Anna in the Personal Ensign (G1) in August at the Spa. With her teddy bear Ewoks and a dedicated team surrounding her each day at Del Mar, Dorth Vader looks to finish one better in this year’s Distaff.  

 

“We’ve had a great journey and it’s just starting,” Ropes said. “Dorth Vader is the best horse I’ve owned, and it’s not often you get a horse to take you to both the Kentucky Oaks and the Breeders’ Cup.” 

 

 

Trainer: Mark Hennig 

 

Jockey: Tyler Gaffalione 

Morning activity: Galloped 1 1/4m under Gregory Benitez 

 

Planned activity: Will jog early Friday morning 

 

The quote: Owner Lee Lewis has his first Breeders’ Cup starter in Gun Song. “It means a lot bringing a horse here for him. He was one of my first owners when I went out on my own, and Personal Hope (fourth in the 1993 Kentucky Derby) was one of the first horses in my barn. First and foremost we are friends. He has been buying some good horses, so hopefully we are on our way back.” – Mark Hennig 

 

 

Ward is also relishing being back in his home state of California. “I’ve already been to In-n-Out and had Jack in the Box tacos. It’s been great,” Ward said.  

 

  

 

Trainer: Whit Beckman 

 

Jockey: Joe Ramos 

Morning activity: Galloped 1 3/8m under Josue Rodriguez 

 

Planned activity: Will gallop Friday morning 

 

The quote: Jockey Joe Ramos is riding at Horseshoe Indianapolis Thursday and will head to Del Mar to ride Regaled in the Distaff for his first Breeders’ Cup mount. “When I first went out on my own, I would send some horses to Indiana and started riding him. Our percentage there was ridiculously good. I can call him, and he will come right on over. He is as good as anybody. He has ridden Regaled three times. I would not trade him for anybody. He and I had our first Kentucky Derby together this spring and now our first Breeders’ Cup. Hopefully we can continue to build on this.” – Whit Beckman 

  

 

Trainer: Ignacio Correas IV 

 

Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr. 

Morning activity: Galloped 1 3/8 miles under Geovanny Vences

 

Planned activity: Gallop Friday morning 

 

The quote: Geovanny Vences is making his second trip to Del Mar, both with trainer Ignacio Correas IV. He was the morning rider for Didia, who was third in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, and Mufasa, who was 11th in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. He has been the regular morning rider for Sarawak Rim, who arrived in the Correas barn in late July. 

 

“She’s very smart and very quiet. She has adapted well (to this country) and likes the good weather here and is feeling good (on the track).” – Geovanny Vences 

  

 

Trainer: Bob Baffert 

 

Jockey: Juan Hernandez 

Morning activity: Galloped 1 3/8 miles 

 

Planned activity: Same as Thursday 

 

The quote: “The form tells it all. She just needs to run that race back (won the Clement L. Hirsch going gate-to-wire by 1 1/2 lengths) and we will be good. If she doesn’t, then we are in trouble.” – Bob Baffert 

 

 

Trainer: Bill Mott 

 

Jockey: Junior Alvarado 

Morning activity: Galloped just short of 1 1/2m, schooled in the paddock 

 

Planned activity: Will gallop at same time 

 

The quote: “She is always there in her races. Everything has to work out for her, which they always have to do to win this race. She has one route race (third in the 1 1/8-mile Spinster (G1) in her last start) under her belt, so hopefully she will adapt to the pace scenario and have a little more stamina because of the previous race. She has won at a mile and an eighth before (the 2024 Fleur de Lis Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs). It probably wasn’t her best race because the speed figures did not look to be the best. She seemed happy today.” – Bill Mott