Desert Duchess Aims for Grade I Win En Route to Keeneland January

The Wycoff family's Three Diamonds Farm enjoyed Grade I victory with a reformed claimer when Bigger Picture (Badge of Silver) took the GI United Nations S. over the summer and Jordan Wycoff will hope to repeat the formula when Desert Duchess (Hard Spun–Aventina, by Dynaformer) goes postward in Saturday's GI American Oaks at Santa Anita. Wycoff and trainer Mike Maker claimed the 3-year-old filly for $35,000 at Belmont in May and, after three so-so performances in New York, she has reeled off three straight wins. She earned her place in the Grade I with a resounding 3 3/4-length victory in the Nov. 4 Cellars Shiraz S. at Gulfstream Park West and a good performance Saturday will be a timely update as she heads to the Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale the following week.

“We claimed her because she had all her conditions,” Wycoff said. “And we love Dynaformer in any kind of pedigree. She was unique in that she had speed and Dynaformer on the bottom side–she had speed and she's bred to go all day.”

Desert Duchess was third in a pair of Belmont starter allowances in her first starts in Wycoff's colors and fourth at Saratoga Aug. 9 before breaking through in upstate New York Sept. 1. She returned two weeks later to win a Kentucky Downs allowance Sept. 14.

“She's just a really nervous filly,” Wycoff said. “So we expected her to be a lot better than third, third and fourth, but she didn't get great trips and she was still a little nervous. Once Mike Maker finally got her settled down, she really turned a corner. Mike had a lot of confidence to run her back in 13 days at Kentucky Downs, which he doesn't like to do very often, and then he said, 'We're going to the stakes in Florida.' I said, 'Are you sure?' He said, 'Absolutely.'”

While Wycoff and his father Kirk were out in California to watch former claimer Bigger Picture run 12th in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, the Maker barn had plenty of confidence in the former claimer heading to the post that same day in South Florida.

“Apparently [Desert Duchess] went down there and she worked like a monster,” Wycoff said. “I didn't know until [Maker assistant] Nolan Ramsey told me after the race that she had worked so well, the whole barn bet her. And that's why she went off the second choice.”

He laughed, “The owner knew less than everyone else did. I was getting my butt kicked at the Breeders' Cup–I could have used the winner.”

The effort prompted father and son, over a plate of post-Breeders' Cup tacos, to get more involved in Desert Duchess's family. Three Diamonds Farm purchased the filly's dam Aventina, in foal to Tapiture, for $60,000 at the Keeneland November sale.

“We went and bought the whole family after she won the stakes,” Wycoff laughed. “She won the day Bigger Picture didn't run well in the Breeders' Cup and I told my dad, 'We need to go buy this mare.' I know the rest of the family pretty well. [Five-year-old] Kabang (Tapit) is trained by [Mike] Trombetta, who used to train for us, and is owned by Charlotte Weber and he's a pretty nice allowance horse. The 2-year-old Emmport (Exchange Rate) is actually in [at Fair Grounds] on [Jan. 1] and [trainer] Brad Cox has always thought pretty highly of her. So the whole family is kind of live and this filly was doing really well and then she ran like that in Florida. I said, 'I don't think we can steal her, but I think we can get her pretty reasonably. And if we are going to point this filly to graded stakes and the mare is in foal to Tapizar, we thought if we could get her reasonably, the foal might be able to cover us. So we decided to go buy her as well.”

Wycoff decided to send Desert Duchess out west for a shot at Grade I glory after Gulfstream Park's Tropical Park Oaks looked set to attract an overflow field.

“We knew the Tropical Park Oaks was going to overfill–I had no idea that they were going to split the race–but we basically decided to go in the Tropical Park Oaks or out west because we have I'm Betty G and Rum Go in the Pago Hop [at Fair Grounds],” he explained. “She'd run a big enough number–she's almost the fastest on Thoro-Graph except for Daddys Lil Darling (Scat Daddy). She'd run a big number and we really wanted the distance. It's always tough, but we figured she's paid us back in spades, so she deserved a shot to go out there and do it. Everything aligned and we decided to take a shot.”

After her start in Saturday's American Oaks, Desert Duchess will head back east for an engagement in the Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale. She is scheduled to sell with the Bluewater Sales consignment as hip 6 during the auction's first session Jan. 8.

“We just booked her flight back to Kentucky, so she will be there to sell,” Wycoff said.

Also expected to sell at the January sale is stakes winner Gianna's Dream (Twirling Candy) (hip 52), who was beaten just a neck when second in the Dec. 16 GIII My Charmer S. Wycoff claimed the now 4-year-old filly for $25,000 in 2016.

“Gianna's Dream has done really well for us,” Wycoff said. “I would like to have a few broodmares, but I'm not in a position to keep broodmares that could bring the value of Desert Duchess or Gianna's Dream.”

The two stakes winners are among a handful of fillies Wycoff claimed who will go through the sales ring at Keeneland January. The group includes now 2-year-old Regal Dame (Scat Daddy) (hip 186), a $40,000 claim at Keeneland in October.

“Regal Dame is [entered to run] two days before on grass,” Wycoff said. “So if she were to run very well in her first start on grass, she'll go [to Keeneland]. I will only sell them when they will bring the top of the market value. Gianna's Dream just ran a 97 Beyer in the Grade III and got beat by a very good Shug [McGaughey] filly in On Leave (War Front). So if you can sell them off a big effort like that and the market is going to give the value you think, we try to sell them all.”

He continued, “Claiming them and just getting them little stakes wins can be a profitable angle. The 2-year-olds we claimed are just good pedigreed fillies who had run ok that we thought might be better as 3-year-olds if we put them in the right spots and they can progress. We plan to sell most of the fillies at some point, especially if they are going to be desirable. As long as this market stays strong and there is value and they are desirable to the public, we'll sell everything with [Bluewater's] Meg and Mike [Levy] and try to claim the next ones.”

But before the sales ring, Desert Duchess will face off against nine foes at Santa Anita Saturday and Wycoff hopes Mike Maker has another Grade I-winning former claimer up his sleeve.

“Mike usually does it once a year,” Wycoff said. “He did it last year with [GI E.P. Taylor S. winner] Al's Gal (English Channel) and he did it with Bigger Picture for us this year. I'm not sure if we can squeeze in two claimers-to-Grade Is in one year, but we'll try.”