Dazzling Dame (Girvin) shot out to the front and romped in Saturday's $150,000 Busanda S. at the Big A, good for 20 points on the road to the Kentucky Oaks.
The 2-1 chance showed the way through fractions of :23.55 and :47.20, let it out a notch on the far turn and dropped the hammer in the stretch to win by 11 1/2 lengths. Two Bits (American Pharoah) was second.
The final time for the one-turn mile was 1:38.30. My World (Essential Quality) completed the same distance in 1:38.96 in the Jerome S. in the male equivalent earlier on the program.
Dazzling Dame was already a two-times stakes winner. She won the Sorority S. at Monmouth Aug. 17 and White Clay Creek S. at Delaware last out Oct. 11. Her lone career defeat was a well-beaten fourth in the GIII Pocahontas S. at Churchill Downs Sept. 13.
Winning trainer Brittany Russell said: “That was really nice. She's a really good workhorse in the mornings. I know it just looks like :49s down the page, but she just does things really easy. She seems like she's progressed, and big, nice filly, does things right. Hopefully, keep her healthy.
“At Churchill when she ran, I feel like she never settled in and did things how you'd like to. It's a different story–two turns coming out of the Delaware race, it's a long run down the backside–and for a free-running horse like that, I just wasn't sure how she would handle it. She was great (today). Today was much better. It's a little closer than Kentucky.”
Russell added, “We'll keep all options on the table.”
The winner's dam is also responsible for a 2-year-old filly by Pinehurst and a yearling filly by Engage.
BUSANDA S., $145,500, Aqueduct, 1-3, 3yo, f, 1m, 1:38.30, ft.
1–DAZZLING DAME, 123, f, 3, by Girvin
1st Dam: Awesome Dama (MSP), by Corinthian
2nd Dam: Most Awesome, by Awesome Again
3rd Dam: Ms. Mostly, by Copelan
($50,000 RNA Wlg '23 KEENOV; $65,000 Ylg '24 OBSWIN;
$45,000 2yo '25 OBSMAR). O-Respect the Valleys, LLC;
B-Maria M. Haire (MD); T-Brittany T. Russell; J-Jevian Toledo.
$82,500. Lifetime Record: 5-4-0-0, $240,525.
2–Two Bits, 123, f, 3, American Pharoah–Spare Change, by
Bernardini. ($75,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP). 1ST BLACK TYPE.
O-EGL-One Racing; B-Don Alberto Corporation (KY); T-Amelia J.
Green. $30,000.
3–Believable, 123, f, 3, Curlin–Temptress, by Tapit. ($800,000
Ylg '24 FTSAUG). O-Repole Stable; B-Newstead Corp (KY);
T-Todd A. Pletcher. $18,000.
Margins: 11HF, 11 1/4, 7HF. Odds: 2.12, 3.16, 2.05.
Also Ran: Midnite Ginny, Britain. Scratched: Shilling.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
✨ DAZZLING DAME ✨ ($6.24) dominated the $150,000 Busanda Stakes at Aqueduct. The @BTRracingstable trained 3YO filly earned 10 points to the Kentucky Oaks under jockey @JevianToledo.
Another winner for @AirdrieStud's Girvin!
Play the last 2: https://t.co/mGeXnEqN9C pic.twitter.com/kG1a5avvoF
— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) January 3, 2026
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