Dona Bruja works half-mile in preparation for First Lady

Dom Felipe’s Dona Bruja (ARG), a standout in her native country who is coming off a second in the Beverly D. (G1) at Arlington on Aug. 12, worked a half-mile in :48 over a fast track Saturday in preparation for an anticipated start in the 20th running of the $400,000 First Lady (G1) on Saturday during Keeneland’s Fall Stars Weekend. For the first time this year, the 1-mile turf race is a “Win and You’re In” for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1).

Keeneland clockers caught Dona Bruja in splits of :12.20, :23.80, :35.80, :48 and galloping out in 1:02.20.

“Good, pretty good,” Keeneland-based trainer Ignacio Correas IV said about the work, which he observed from the Grandstand. “She always works on dirt, and she works pretty good and she can handle it pretty good, so I don’t need to work her on the turf. I’m not much of a turf worker. If they can handle the dirt, I usually work them on the dirt.”

Dona Bruja, a 5-year-old Storm Embrujado mare, began training with Correas in January after an outstanding career in her native Argentina that culminated with a win in the Copa de Plata-Roberto Vasquez Mansilla-Internacional (G1) in December 2016.

“I’ve been watching her for like a year before on TV, running her races in Argentina. I trained for the owners, so I kind of knew what kind of horse I was getting,” said Correas, who is a native of Argentina. “I think that she was probably one of the best turf fillies that I saw in my country in the last 25 years. I was expecting something really good. (Whether) they translate the form to America or not that’s a different question, but she had a lot of potential.”