With the three-year-old filly division up for grabs following the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Acorn (G1) this spring, Dunbar Road can throw her hat into the discussion with a successful run Saturday in the $250,000 Mother Goose (G2) at Belmont Park.
With 40 points, the Chad Brown-trained daughter of Quality Road fell just below the point cutoff line to qualify for the Kentucky Oaks. Making a late debut in a March 3 maiden at Gulfstream, she dominated that field by more than eight lengths. She then finished second in the Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) by a half-length to Champagne Anyone, who ran fourth in the Churchill Downs fixture.
Rather than rush her into the next stakes, the Black-Eyed Susan (G2) at Pimlico or the Acorn, the latter won by the Brown-trained Guarana after a debut maiden victory, Dunbar Road instead dominated entry-level allowance foes over the Mother Goose track and distance of 1 1/16 miles on May 30.
Dunbar Road figures to be a heavy favorite against the likes of Classic Fit, a stakes winner who’s won three of four but is unraced since December; Safta, a last-out maiden winner who finished fifth in the Gulfstream Park Oaks in her lone stakes appearance; and Jeltrin, who captured the Davona Dale (G2) at odds of 51-1 in early March, following that with a ninth in the Kentucky Oaks and a distant third in the Acorn.
Trying dirt for the first time is the Mark Casse-trained Wings of Dawn, who’s won two in a row over the Tapeta at Woodbine after dropping her first two outings on grass.
“A lot of people don’t know this, but Woodbine has a dirt track as well that you can train on, and you can see in her last few breezes that she’s been extremely good,” Casse said. “We’ve been preparing for the Mother Goose and we’re excited to see what she can do.”
Uni, last seen winning the Matriarch (G1) at Del Mar in December, makes her belated season debut in the $100,000 Perfect Sting over one mile on the turf. She faces four rivals, including Grade 3 winner Bellavais.
“The Ballston Spa ([G2] at Saratoga] would be our goal after this race and then we’ll go from there,” co-owner Michael Dubb said. “I’m not sure what options we have as far as the Breeders’ Cup is concerned since the Filly & Mare Turf (G1) is going longer, so we may go for the Matriarch again.”
