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Dortmund stays perfect in San Felipe

Dortmund will continue on to the Santa Anita Derby after a sharp San Felipe score (Benoit Photos) Dortmund kept his unblemished record intact on Saturday with a wire-to-wire victory in the $401,250 San Felipe (G2) at Santa Anita. Kaleem Shah's flashy chestnut led by a half-length through splits of :23 and :46 4/5, extended his lead to a length through six furlongs in 1:11 1/5, and then turned back a challenge from Bolo (Temple City) in the stretch en route to a 1 1/4-length victory as the 4-5 favorite in the 1 1/16-mile Santa Anita Derby (G1) prep. Under Martin Garcia, Dortmund completed the distance in 1:41 3/5 and paid $3.60. The win was worth 50 qualifying points as part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby series. "It looks easy because he's such a good horse and when you have a horse that's good, he makes it look easy," Garcia said. "I'm always confident because I know how good he is. I don't think there will be any difference for him when we add more distance; he can go any distance. It won't be a problem for him."

Prospect Park (Tapit), making his stakes debut after maiden and allowance scores during the Santa Anita winter meet, rallied nicely for second, a half-length ahead of Bolo, who was making his dirt debut after winning the Eddie Logan on grass in late December.

The rest of the field finished well behind the top trio. Lord Nelson (Pulpit), The Gomper (Sky Mesa), Pulmarack (Lucky Pulpit), Pain and Misery (Bob and John), Ocho Ocho Ocho (Street Sense), Sir Samson (Smart Strike), and Kenjisstorm (Stormy Atlantic) crossed the finish line in that order.

Dortmund moved his career record to a perfect five-for-five with $689,400 in career earnings by taking the San Felipe. The chestnut broke his maiden by 4 3/4 lengths on November 2 at Santa Anita and shipped cross-country to romp in a Churchill Downs allowance 27 days later by 7 3/4 lengths.

The colt wrapped up his juvenile campaign with a head victory in the Los Alamitos Futurity (G1) back in California, and had another difficult task in the February 7 Robert B. Lewis (G3) which he won by the same margin. Both races were over the San Felipe distance of 1 1/16 miles.

"Coming into this race he was doing much better than he was last time. He's starting to fill out, getting stronger," trainer Bob Baffert said. "As long as he stays healthy, the farther they go, he's just getting cranked up there at the end, so that was pretty exciting. He'll stay here (for the Santa Anita Derby on April 4)."

Bred in Kentucky by Emilie Gerlinde Fojan, Dortmund has passed through the sales ring three times. In his first foray as a Keeneland November weanling, the colt RNAed for $85,000. One year later at Fasig-Tipton's July Sale, he brought $90,000 from Breaking Point Farm, who turned around and sold him at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale for $140,000.

Dortmund is out of Grade 3-placed stakes heroine Our Josephina (Tale of the Cat) and counts as his third dam champion Lakeville Miss (Rainy Lake). That mare would go on to produce Grade 1 victor Mogambo (Mr. Prospector) and Grade 1-placed Sea Breezer (Gulch).

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