Doubledogdare Stakes (Grade 2)- $400.00 Purse
KEE- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
April 17, 2026

All eyes will be on KEE on Friday, as the day’s lone stake race is a big one: the $400.00, Grade 2 Doubledogdare Stakes, for older females on the main track. That purse level represents a $50.00 increase from last year and is a high for the race. This is the 21st time that the race has been held, and some of the past winners include Karloff, Tenrikyo, and Present Tense. In 2025, Devil In High Heels got the win for The Sidley Stud and will be looking to become the first two-time winner of this race. She’s one of eight runners in this field, so let’s take a look at all of them that will be taking part.

1- El Sweetie (Greyfriars Stable, ridden by R Bejarano)- El Sweetie will be looking to pick up her first win in fourteen months here in the Doubledogdare Stakes. Since winning the $150.00 Suncoast at TAM at that time, she’s been rather inconsistent with some sluggish outings mixed in with times she has shown plenty of ability, such as when she ran third in the Grade 3 Pine Stakes at DMR. When we last saw her, she ran third in the $250.00 Latonia Stakes at TP but was beaten by three lengths. She’ll see the race winner of that one in R U Ready To Code again, as well.

2- Absolute Zero (Rock Creek, ridden by P Husbands)- She lived up to her name in the last race, but that’s not meant to be a flattering statement. In the Grade 2 Azeri, she was beaten by eight lengths, finishing next to last in the mud. Fortunately, she’s a lot better on a dry track, and as long as Saturday’s forecasted rain doesn’t speed up and get here Friday, she’ll get what she needs to be at her best. Two starts ago, she was second in a photo at the Grade 3 La Canada Stakes from SA. Doesn’t have a lot of stake experience, but the ability is there.

3- Go For Glory (Mb Stables, ridden by L Dettori)- Like El Sweetie, Go For Glory also comes out of $250.00 Latonia Stakes, and for her, she followed R U Ready To Code around the racetrack, running second and missing by two. Prior to that, she was the runner up in the Grade 3 Bayakoa, and nearly pulled it off, before losing the head bob at the wire to some horse named Credit Crime that you may have heard of. Overall, she’s won four of eight but is still looking to call herself a stake winner. Perhaps, it is only a matter of time.

4- R U Ready To Code (The Sidley Stud, ridden by M Franco)- As we have mentioned a couple of times already, R U Ready To Code won the $250.00 Latonia Stakes in her last race, and it was done in wire-to-wire fashion. That victory was the fourth in a row for the Penal Code mare, and it began about as modestly as it can, with a win at BTP. In that stretch, she can also boast a win in the La Canada Stakes, where she edged out Absolute Zero. While running for The Sidley Stud, she has always been a part of the exacta and looks to continue her climb up the class ladder.

5- Shericka (Winning Link Stables, ridden by J R Velazquez)- As a horse with six wins, and ten times of hitting the board in 15 starts, Shericka has been consistent when looking at the big picture, but recent results have told a different story. She’s only run three times since September, and that includes two lackluster performances. One was in the BC F & M Sprint, so we can forgive that. To get there, you have to be productive, and she was, being victorious in the DMR Oaks, and running second in the Grade 1 Test. She’s only raced once since the BC, coming last month in a TAM open allowance where she knocked off Present Tense in a wire to wire effort. We’ll see if she can build on that here.

6- Devil In High Heels (The Sidley Stud, ridden by P Lopez)- As a race for older horses, the Doubledogdare Stakes always has had the potential to get a repeat winner, but that is something that we have never seen. Last year’s winner, Devil In High Heels will get her chance to the first to accomplish that feat. Since her win, she would win the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis Handicap at CD, and then the Personal Ensign up at SAR. However, she would not show her normal closing kick in the BC Distaff. She’s had one solid start, and another mediocre one since that, but her works remain good, so she can certainly get back to the winner’s circle here.

7- Gutter Black (Mo Mentum Farm, ridden by J Bravo)- In her last start two months ago, Gutter Black rebounded from two subpar outings to win the Grade 3 Royal Delta at GP. One of those previous races was the BC Distaff, and while that did not end well for her, it did complete a year that saw three wins, highlighted by the Grade 2 Santa Margarita. Her season would also include a third-place effort in the Hirsch at SAR. The Royal Delta was therefore a nice bounce back for her, and with a little time to rest, she looks to grab another strong result.

8- Trumpino (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by F Geroux)- The five-year-old mare has been going back and forth between the dirt and the turf as the trainer looks to lead her to her first win in a little more than a year. Winning is not something Trumpino has done a lot of, with just two in 21 starts, but she has hit the board in 12 of them. Her last three races have been in overnights, and the trainer sees enough to give her this chance.

Prediction: 3-4-6-7

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES