Dream Tree 'looks fine' after last-place La Brea finish

Trainer Bob Baffert said Thursday that Dream Tree, the odds on La Brea Stakes (G1) favorite who finished last of eight at Santa Anita Park, emerged from the race without any physical problems.

“She looks fine afterwards, but she was really, really tired,” Baffert said by phone. “The track’s been really different, but she’s exhausted.”

Phoenix Thoroughbreds’ Dream Tree opened her career 4-for-4 but missed the bulk of the spring and summer due to a setback. After making it 5-for-5 with a victory off the layoff in Saratoga’s Prioress (G2), she bypassed the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint having emerged from a final work with an entrapped epiglottis, a breathing issue requiring surgery.

Baffert didn’t use either ailment as a La Brea excuse coming out of the year's last chance to run Dream Tree in a top-level race restricted to 3-year-old fillies.

“I lost a lot of time with her, and I was trying to rush her to get to that race,” he said. “She just ran flat. She didn’t show up.”

Dream Tree ran between horses but in the lead of the seven-furlong La Brea until she reached the turn, came under a vigorous hand ride and dropped out of contention. Drayden Van Dyke, who rode in the La Brea, added Wednesday: “I don’t know what happened. She just came up empty.”

California-bred Spiced Perfection went on to strike at 5-1 odds.

A daughter of Uncle Mo, Dream Tree was a $750,000 purchase as a 2-year-old. Before the Breeders’ Cup — she would have likely gone as the Filly & Mare Sprint favorite — plans called for her to enter Keeneland’s January sale. Now, she’s set up to remain in training with Baffert as a 4-year-old.

“All she really did was spin her wheels and never really got into it,”  the Hall of Famer added of Wednesday’s race. “That was just it, unfortunately. We know she’s better than that.”

With the division, Santa Anita's $250,000 Santa Monica (G2) is next and could mark Dream Tree's first matchup with older horses.