Dortmund Takes to the Turf in Kilroe

Kaleem Shah's “TDN Rising Star” Dortmund (Big Brown) makes his turf debut and first start for new trainer Art Sherman Saturday in the GI Frank E. Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita. A Grade I winner at age two and three, the hulking chestnut spent most of last year chasing Sherman's recently retired stable star California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) starting with a runner-up effort in the GII San Diego H. July 23. Third behind the Horse of the Year and four-time champion Beholder (Henny Hughes) in the Aug. 20 GI Pacific Classic, the 5-year-old was second to Chrome again in the GI Awesome Again S. Oct. 1 and was last seen finishing fourth as the favorite in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile Nov. 4. Dortmund, who sheds blinkers for this surface switch, was one of six horses transferred to Sherman after Shah parted ways with longtime trainer Bob Baffert at the start of 2017 (Click here for more information on the Shah/Baffert split).

“If you really think about it, seven eighths is probably one of the toughest distances on a horse,” Sherman said of his decision to run in the Kilroe rather than the GI Triple Bend S. on dirt. “You've got to run every inch of the way. It's just a hard, hard race to recover from, and Dortmund has some grass breeding and it's an opportune time to try him on the grass. You don't have to win, but if he runs a good race, it gives me another option.”

Dortmund will face a tough group of veteran turf runners in this test, including previous Kilroe Mile winners Ring Weekend (Tapit) (2015) and What a View (Vronsky) (2016). The Graham Motion-trained Ring Weekend closed out 2016 with a victory in the GII Seabiscuit H. at Del Mar Nov. 26 and was fifth as the favorite in a sloppy off-the-turf renewal of the GII San Gabriel S. Jan. 7. The gelding was last seen finishing fourth behind Bolo (Temple City), What a View and GII Mathis Brothers Mile hero Conquest Enforcer (Into Mischief) in the GII Arcadia S. over this course and distance Feb. 11.