Dona Bruja (Arg) (Storm Embrujado {Arg}), who won her first two starts in the U.S. before going down to a narrow defeat at the hands of Dacita (Chi) (Scat Daddy) in the GI Beverly D. S. Aug. 13, worked a half-mile over the Keeneland main track Saturday morning in advance of her start in the Oct. 7 GI First Lady S. For the first time, the one-mile race serves as a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf.
Keeneland clockers caught the 5-year-old in fractions of :12.20, :23.80 and :35.80 before a five-furlong gallop out in 1:02.20.
“Good, pretty good,” was trainer Ignacio Correas IV's post-work assessment. “She always works on dirt, and she works pretty good and she can handle it pretty good, so I don't need to work her on the turf. I'm not much of a turf worker. If they can handle the dirt, I usually work them on the dirt.”
Winner of eight of her 10 starts in Argentina, including a maiden Group 1 success in her final start at home last December, Dona Bruja was ultra-impressive in winning Churchill's GIII Mint Julep H. June 10 and the GIII Modesty H. at Arlington in her first two tries in this country. A touch handier to the pace in the Beverly D., Dona Bruja made the front at a relatively early stage, but was outkicked by Dacita in the final 100 yards.
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