Dortmund Back With a Bullet in Big Bear

'TDN Rising Star' Dortmund was hammered down to 1-5 favoritism for Saturday's Big Bear S. at Santa Anita making his first start since a distant fourth-place effort behind stablemate American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) in a sloppy renewal of the GI Preakness S. at Pimlico May 16. Though he was off without incident from the four hole, jockey Martin Garcia was in no particular hurry to take up the running and instead allowed Kent Desormeaux and Soi Phet (Tizbud) to set the early pace. Dortmund shadowed that one from his saddle towel, and when Garcia said it was time to go, the strapping chestnut hit the front three wide at the three-furlong pole. Motown Men skimmed the fence and tried to make a race of it at the top of the lane, but Dortmund immediately countered, quickened up nicely to put daylight on his rivals and held sway as Point Piper (Giant's Causeway) trimmed the winning margin down to 1 1/4 lengths. Undefeated in his first six trips to the post, including the GI Santa Anita Derby Apr. 4, Dortmund set the pace in the GI Kentucky Derby, but weakened in the final furlong to finish three lengths back in third. Our Josephina, second in the GIII Chicago Breeders' Cup H. and from the same family as MGISW Mogambo (Mr. Prospector), was bred to Malibu Moon this spring.

BIG BEAR S., $75,580, SA, 10-24, 3yo/up, 1m, 1:36.42, ft.
1–DORTMUND, 122, c, 3, Big Brown–Our Josephina (SW &
GSP, $190,584), by Tale of the Cat. ($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-Martin Garcia. $43,080. Lifetime Record: MGISW,
9-7-0-1, $1,622,480.
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2–Point Piper, 124, h, 5, Giant's Causeway–Imagine (Ire), by
Sadler's Wells. ($80,000 3yo '13 FTKHRA). O-Gatto Racing, LLC,
J. Russo, M. Schlaich, J. Hollendorfer & P. Russo;
B-Barronstown Stud (KY); T-Jerry Hollendorfer. $14,360.
3–Motown Men, 124, g, 6, Decarchy–Ringading, by Gilded
Time. O-Gulliver Racing LLC; B-Mark Gorman & Doug O'Neill
(CA); T-Ted H. West. $11,136.
Margins: 1 3/4, 2HF, 5 3/4. Odds: 0.30, 5.80, 9.00.
Also Ran: Soi Phet, Mystery Train (Arg). Scratched: Cat Burglar.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.