Street Babe Continues to Climb Class Ladder

by Ben Massam 

It is understood that the majority of the racing world will have their eyes fixed on champion MGISW Shared Belief (Candy Ride {Arg}) during the running of the lucrative GII Charles Town Classic Saturday evening. But for those looking for an intriguing subplot, late-developing Street Babe (Street Sense), recent winner of the GIII Mineshaft H., will be competing for a piece of Charles Town’s $1.5-million purse in just his fourth career start.

Michael Dilger, who trains Street Babe for primary client Anstu Stables, said that a patient approach has worked well for the talented gelding.

“We had him as a 2-year-old,” explained Dilger. “He’s always been a big horse. He’s quite tall–probably 17 hands at this point. He showed us some promise at two, and we decided that he was still growing, so we sent him back to Kentucky. He spent last winter at the farm, and then he came back to me in the middle of May last year.”

Given time to grow into his large frame, Street Babe trained with Dilger’s string at Saratoga until the autumn of his 3-year-old season. When he made it to the starting gate for the first time at Aqueduct Nov. 20, the dark bay notched a decisive four-length victory in a one-mile maiden event.

Street Babe was sent to South Florida for the winter following that initial effort, and went to post as the heavy favorite in a Gulfstream Park allowance event on New Year’s Eve. He set a contested pace in the 1 1/16-mile affair and was caught in the stretch by GISP Fast Falcon (Awesome Again). Although his charge held on to finish second, Dilger said that the result came as a surprise. 

“We were very confident that day, and I thought he should win,” recalled Dilger. “He broke sharp and wound up on the rail getting pressed the whole way around, and he was just nipped on the wire by a horse that came wide. He never saw the horse and never got to engage with him, so he got beaten. We were sort of surprised by that and disappointed, but we knew from his training that we had a very nice horse.”

Having regrouped from the defeat at Gulfstream, Dilger affirmed his confidence in Street Babe by entering him in the Mineshaft at the Fair Grounds Feb. 21. 

Overlooked by the wagering public at odds of 21-1 in New Orleans, Street Babe raced wide around both turns and rallied to score by 3/4 of a length over Mystery Train (Arg) (Not For Sale {Arg}), a two-time G1SW in Argentina. According to Dilger, the effort both provided redemption for the earlier defeat and represented a noticeable improvement in the maturity of his trainee. 

“I was very pleased with that race for a couple of reasons,” Dilger commented. “Obviously because he won, but also because he broke sharply and was able to sit third on the outside just off the pace. He dug in and battled well at the end to win, so it was a very professional way to win a race.”

Dilger said that he considered running Street Babe back in the Mar. 28 G1 Godolphin Mile in Dubai or the GII New Orleans H. at the Fair Grounds, but ultimately decided to give the gelding more time to recover. A bid at the Charles Town Classic, he noted, made the most sense due to its spot on the calendar.

Given a 15-1 morning-line chance from post three in the Classic, Dilger is well aware that Street Babe will be asked to make another significant jump up the class ladder while facing the likes of Shared Belief.

“He’s trained very well and we’ve got a lot of faith in him,” the trainer continued. “We were taking a big jump in class when we went to New Orleans for the Mineshaft, and we’re going to be doing the same thing again up against all these more experienced horses. But we think we have a nice horse.”

Dilger, who has a stable of 24 horses, also sends out a pair of sophomore stakes competitors on Saturday. Team Valor International’s To the Victor (Street Sense)goes in the seven-furlong Robert Hilton Memorial S. on the Charles Town undercard, while Anstu Stables’ Eh Cumpari (Elusive Quality)–recent winner of the GIII Palm Beach S.–has been entered in Aqueduct’s Woodhaven S. over 1 1/16 miles on the turf.