Vale Dori Cruises to La Canada Victory
Globetrotting Vale Dori (ARG) seems to have found a comfortable home in southern California with trainer Bob Baffert, running no worse than third since her arrival in the area. Off as the deserved 1-5 favorite in the $200,000 Grade 2 La Canada, a 1 1/16 miles race for fillies and mares four-years-old and up on Santa Anita’s main track, the five-year-old daughter of Asiatic Boy (ARG) led every step of the way to establish herself as a mare to watch out for in 2017.
Vale Dori broke clean from post one, allowing her and jockey Mike Smith to dictate the pace. All but one of her four rivals, Enduring Erin, she previously beat in the Grade 2 Bayakoa. Second choice Wild At Heart, runner-up behind Vale Dori in that race, sat just behind her main competition hoping for revenge. It was a gap back to Enduring Erin, Show Stealer, and Autumn Flower as Vale Dori ticked off a half mile in :22.63 and :47.58.
Wild At Heart attempted to shorten Vale Dori’s lead at half a mile, but only found herself falling further back. Show Stealer found a gap at the rail as three-quarters went in 1:12.43 and was the only mare to challenge Vale Dori. Mike Smith allowed Show Stealer to get within a length before he asked anything of his mount, and when the question was asked she responded. Vale Dori cruised to a mile in 1:38.37 before hitting the wire in 1:44.95, making it a 2 ½ length victory.
Vale Dori delivered $2.60, $2.10, and $2.10 as the heavy favorite. Show Stealer returned $5.80 and $3.40 at 13-1 and Autumn Flower, 20-1, paid $5.00. Wild At Heart and Enduring Erin completed the order of finish.
“Wild At Heart is a good mare,” commented Baffert. “She took her on early and didn’t give it to her. When Mike made that move at the three-eighths pole…I saw him make that adios move and was hoping he didn’t move her too early. She had something left at the end. When they’re that heavily favored, you just hope they run to their odds.”
“She’s just gotten so good,” Smith said of Vale Dori. “They’ve done such a good job of getting her to relax. She’s really come around. I got on her when she first got here and she was nothing like this. She was very rank and very aggressive. To see her now, it’s a complete turnaround. She’s so calm and cool. She went out there with a lot of confidence, a lot of class. She’s doing well right now and climbing the ladder."
Owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Maktoum, Vale Dori began her race career as a three-year-old in Argentina, where she won the Group 1 Jorge de Atucha. She made her 2016 debut in Dubai, running second in the Group 3 UAE Oaks, and made her first start for Baffert at Del Mar in August. The La Canada improved her career record to 6-3-1 from 11 starts and boosted her earnings to $574,943.
“They sent her to me to get a Grade I into her and have some fun with her,” said Baffert, “so I’m just glad that they kept her in training. They were thinking of breeding her so this is good to have. These good fillies are hard to get. She’s improving.
“Well, eventually she’ll have to run against that caliber of horse (regarding Songbird) but I think she’s improved since she ran against her and we’ll just continue moving forward. If not, we can always put her on a plane and go somewhere else. We have a lot of options with her.”
“It’s important to have her versatility,” added Smith. “I think she’s gotten to the point where she’s not a one dimensional horse and I think she’d even sit off of someone now if they wanted to get crazy. I look for her to do some great things. She’s got a long year ahead of her and hopefully she won’t run into my other big mare and I get to ride them both.”
By Christine Oser