Dortmund Tries Turf in Kilroe Mile
By: Nicolle Neulist, Blinkers Off
Race 9: Frank E. Kilroe Mile (G1), four-year-olds and up, one mile on
the turf, post time 4:30pm PST
This
year marks the 58th running of the Kilroe Mile, a $400,000, top-level race for
turf milers.
Originally
christened the Arcadia Handicap in 1960, the race was renamed in 2000 in memory
of racing executive Frank E. Kilroe. Kilroe started his racing career working
in the racing office at Jamaica Race Track in New York, and by the 1950s he was
splitting his time managing racing in New York in the summer, and at Santa
Anita in the winter. He relocated to the west for good in the 1960s, and by the
1970s had built Santa Anita, Del Mar, and Hollywood Park into a coherent
yearlong circuit. Originally a 1 1/4 mile race on the grass, it was shortened
to its current one-mile distance in 1987 and was first granted Grade I status
in 2005.
Champions
who have won the Kilroe Mile include Australian and German champion Strawberry
Road (1986), prominent sire Leroidesanimaux (2005), and 2009 Arlington Million
winner Gio Ponti (2009). Only one horse has won the Kilroe Mile twice: Ga Hai,
who won in both 1975 and 1976. 2015
winner Ring Weekend will try to match that feat here, but given his spotty
recent form and his trainer’s cold record at The Great Race Place this winter? Spoiler alert: this space will look
elsewhere.
They
say pace makes the race, and that maxim matters here. There are two real
front-end horses in this race: What a
View and Dortmund. What a
View can hang with this class of horses...if he gets a comfortable enough lead.
Thanks to a certain hulking Big Brown baby who is going first-time
turf, that seems unlikely.
Dortmund,
on the other hand, should shake out the speed of the speed. Even if What
a View makes a race of it early, Dortmund has shown the ability to get the best
of a contested pace. Yes, he didn't win in four starts last year...but in
three of those four starts he faced the likes of California Chrome and
Beholder. He has shown the ability to fire off a lay. And, for a
first try on grass, he couldn't have picked a better spot since the real titans
of the turf mile division (looking at you, Tepin and Miss Temple City!) are
still on the shelf. His breeding suggests he could take to the green
stuff. Sire Big Brown is not only from the Danzig sire line, but Big
Brown himself relished the green stuff. And, dam Our Josephine has
produced a turf winner already: Dortmund's (cooler)
older brother, Joseph the Catfish (Mineshaft). All in all? This looks
like shrewd placing by new trainer Art Sherman. Between Dortmund's
likelihood to be the one who survives the pace and the strong chance that he'll
enjoy grass, this space will give him a chance.
Bolo won the Arcadia (G2) last out, a
mile on the Santa Anita grass against several of the horses he faces here.
On a whole, this field skews tougher than the Arcadia's, but Bolo's
affinity for the course and distance demands respect. In five tries over
the grass at Santa Anita, he has four victories and a second -- and, that
second came behind a loose-on-the-lead What a View in last year's Kilroe.
What a View doesn't stand to get that this year, making Bolo dangerous
over his home turf. Bolo also has three wins in five starts at a mile on
grass. He keeps Mike Smith in the irons, and though trainer Carla Gaines
has not been all that hot this season -- the only win she has came thanks to Bolo's
last outing. Given his tactical speed and his trainer's tendency to
deliver on big race days, Bolo may well get first and best run on Dortmund.
The
third slot was a tough call between Conquest
Enforcer and Flamboyant. Flamboyant
has a strong record over the Santa Anita grass...but against this class of
horses, a mile may prove a bit short for him. Thus, this space instead
leans toward the defensive inclusion of Conquest Enforcer, the west coast grass
division's young gun. The son of Into Mischief was third last out behind Bolo
in the Arcadia -- but his foot took a bit of a beating. That is a perfectly cromulent excuse, given Conquest Enforcer
showed good form against salty older horses at three. He has come back
with two solid five-panel works since that start, and should make good
account of himself here. He keeps Flavien Prat in the irons; Prat
booted him home to victory in the Mathis Brothers Mile (G2) two back, and
also opts to ride him instead of Bal a Bali. All in all, Conquest
Enforcer should figure again here.
Selections:
#4 Dortmund
#3 Bolo
#6 Conquest Enforcer
Longshot: This winter, #1 Bal
a Bali had been listed on Calumet Farm's stud roster for 2017.
The seven-year-old Brazilian-bred entire disappeared from that
roster...and reappears here in Calumet's black and yellow. Bal a Bali has
been working regularly since the end of December for strong layoff trainer Richard
Mandella, so he should be fit. He also cuts back to his best distance, a
flat mile on the grass, after testing the waters at ten furlongs over both dirt
and turf last year. Though he loses jockey Flavien Prat to Conquest
Enforcer, he gets an excellent turf rider in Javier Castellano. And, he
has tactical speed -- one can depend on Bal a Bali not gunning it with the
likes of Dortmund or What a View, but he can set off the pace wherever
Castellano judges to be appropriate. It means something that Papa
Mandella puts Bal a Bali right back in Grade I company after nine months off --
and Bal a Bali's best could put him in the frame at long odds.
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