Dortmund Dominates in Native Diver

“TDN Rising Star” Dortmund continued his powerful comeback with an effortless romp in Del Mar's GIII Native Diver S. Saturday. Sitting pretty in a comfortable second as 29-1 shot Majestic City (City Zip) ticked off opening fractions of :23.75 and :47.61, the heavy favorite continued to just canter along into the backstretch run and readily responded when given the signal by Hall of Fame pilot Gary Stevens at the quarter-pole. Taking control in just one massive stride, the hulking chestnut showed the way into the stretch and galloped home to win by daylight over Imperative in what was equivalent to a paid workout.

Originally scheduled to start in Churchill's GI Clark H. Friday, Dortmund missed his trip to Kentucky due to a quarter crack and was rerouted to this test instead after a patch was applied Saturday morning. He is currently being considered for Santa Anita's seven-furlong GI Malibu S. Dec. 26.

“He took me back in time today,” said Stevens, who took over for regular rider Martin Garcia who was riding for Baffert at Churchill this weekend. “I thought I was on Point Given again. I thought [Dortmund] was a one-paced horse, but I found out today that that's not so. He's got those gears. He kicked in at the five-sixteenths and really moved. He's got that high cruising speed, but he can accelerate, too. That's good. I know Bob is talking about shortening him up for the Malibu and he should be up for that. He's just got that big, long stride; that big engine. And he doesn't need the lead. He was just fine where he was today.”

Opening his account with six straight victories including the GI Los Alamitos Futurity and GI Santa Anita Derby, Dortmund suffered his first defeat at the hooves of his stablemate American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) after setting the pace in the GI Kentucky Derby May 2. Fourth behind the eventual Triple Crown winner in a sloppy renewal of the GI Preakness S. May 16, the sophomore was given some time off by his Hall of Fame conditioner and resurfaced with another easy score in Santa Anita's Big Bear S.

Saturday, Del Mar
NATIVE DIVER S.-GIII, $150,000, DMR, 11-28, 3yo/up, 1 1/8m, 1:48.06, ft.
1–DORTMUND, 124, c, 3, by Big Brown
1st Dam: Our Josephina (SW & GSP, $190,584),
by Tale of the Cat
2nd Dam: Ropa Usada, by Danzig
3rd Dam: Lakeville Miss, by Rainy Lake
'TDN Rising Star' ($85,000 RNA Wlg '12 KEENOV; $90,000 Ylg
'13 FTKJUL; $140,000 2yo '14 EASMAY). O-Kaleem Shah, Inc.;
B-Emilie Gerlinde Fojan (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-Gary L. Stevens.
$90,000. Lifetime Record: 10-8-0-1, $1,712,480. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating: A+.[bullet ad=”lanni-hillndale-purchased”][bullet ad=”kbif-g2g3″]
2–Imperative, 120, g, 5, Bernardini">Bernardini–Call Her, by Caller I. D.
($325,000 Ylg '11 KEESEP). O-KM Racing Enterprise, Inc.;
B-Glencrest Farm LLC & Darley (KY); T-Richard Baltas. $30,000.[bullet ad=”fourstar-salesgrad”]
3–Iron Fist, 118, r, 3, Tapit–Successful Outlook, by Orientate.
($1,550,000 Ylg '13 KEESEP). O-Regis Farms & Stonestreet
Stables LLC; B-Gainesway Thoroughbreds Ltd. (KY); T-Jerry
Hollendorfer. $18,000.[bullet ad=”gaineway-bredconsigned”]
Margins: 4HF, 1HF, 1HF. Odds: 0.60, 3.40, 2.90.
Also Ran: Big Cazanova (Arg), Majestic City. Scratched: Yahilwa, Cat Burglar.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.