Danette Looks for Breakthrough Effort in Alabama
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Already having been competitive in Grade 1 company, Don't Tell My Wife Stables' Danette is still looking for that breakthrough performance. Her connections hope it comes in Saturday's 1 ¼-mile Alabama.
One of the oldest and most prestigious races in the country for 3-year-old fillies, the 135th Alabama will be the sixth graded stakes attempt for Danette and fifth in a Grade 1. Most recently, she was fourth, beaten 2 ½ lengths at odds of 38-1, in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks July 26 at Saratoga.
"I guess in the back of your mind that's always your hope, but it really was kind of a step up for her last time," said Julie Clark, assistant to California-based trainer Keith Desormeaux. "We liked what we saw in there, for sure. I think she showed she fits at least for the next one."
All three horses that finished ahead of Danette in the CCA Oaks - I'm a Chatterbox, Curalina and Include Betty - return in the Alabama. Danette will break from the rail in a seven-horse field under jockey Junior Alvarado.
Danette's Oaks performance came on the heels of her maiden victory July 2 at Belmont Park - her 13th lifetime start. In March she ran fourth to I'm a Chatterbox in the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks following a 2-year-old campaign that saw her finish third to Angela Renee in the Grade 1 Chandelier and fifth by 1 ½ lengths in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies to eventual 2-year-old filly champion Take Charge Brandi.
In her only timed work since the CCA Oaks, Danette breezed five furlongs in 1:01.55 over Saratoga's main track. The daughter of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin will be trying 1 ¼ miles for the first time, never having gone beyond the CCA Oaks' 1 1/8 miles.
"She's training great. I think that the last race, galloping out she was real strong," said Clark. "She got ahead pretty quickly, and I think the extra distance will really help her. She really wants more rather than less."
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Six Column Stables and Randall Bloch's Sweetgrass will make her fourth straight graded stakes start and first in Grade 1 company in Saturday's Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama.
Trainer Ian Wilkes continues to be encouraged by the development of Sweetgrass, a bay daughter of 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense who is coming off a runner-up effort in the Grade 2 Indiana Oaks July 18.
"You probably won't see the best of her until next year, but at the moment she's doing well," Wilkes said. "It's hard to say not to run to the owner if the horse is doing well and training good. What's the old saying? You have to make hay while the sun shines."
Unraced at 2, Sweetgrass debuted with back-to-back third-place finishes before her two-length maiden victory on March 1, all three races coming at Gulfstream Park. She beat winners at first asking April 3 at Keeneland and was seventh in her first try against stakes horses in the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan May 15.
"She ran down behind in that race, so she had an excuse," Wilkes said. "She's been running in good company and been very consistent. She's been up against some fillies, probably not Grade 1 fillies but good fillies that could end up Grade 1 fillies."
Following the Black-Eyed Susan, Sweetgrass shipped to Prairie Meadows for the Grade 3 Iowa Oaks, beaten a half-length by multiple graded stakes winner Sarah Sis prior to her solid showing in Indiana. Sweetgrass tuned up for the Alabama with a five-furlong breeze in 1:01.04 on August 13.
"She's come a long way in a short time," Wilkes said. "She didn't start running until January and she's run very hard, very consistent. Everything we've handed to her, she's taken it. Before we ran her she showed she had some talent, and every time she's run she's stepped up to the plate, which is good. I'm very pleased with her."
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