Doubledogdare Stakes (Grade 3)- $300.000 Purse
KEE- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
April 21, 2023

A field of six have made their way to KEE for Friday’s running of the Doubledogdare Stakes, which is on the main track for older females, sending them a little more than a mile. The race was first held in 2005 and ran for only $100.000. It would run at that, or similar amounts all the way until last year when it would receive a significant boost to $300.000, and that will remain unchanged for this year’s event. That increase has not helped with the field size, as fields had been larger prior to the 2022 race, which only ran with five. Tenrikyo was the winner of that race, doing so for Smokey Stover, and the 2019 KYO winner surely has had a memorable career, winning over $3,800.000. She is still active, though has not done much as of yet during 2023. The trainer will be back in the race, however, so let’s take a look at his entry and the rest of the field!

#1- Anivia (BomBay Stables, ridden by L Contreras)- In two of her last three races, Anivia has managed to hit the board in a graded stake, running second in the Grade 3 Maple Leaf Stakes back in November, and then third in the Grade 3 Royal Delta. She hasn’t won one of them yet, though right between those two aforementioned races, she won an ungraded stakes. Therefore, she certainly appears capable of getting her signature win right here. Tactically, she ran a very different style of race in the Royal Delta, and it worked out well for her, so you have to wonder if that will be tried again, or if she will go back to a frontrunning tactic. Either way, this is a horse that you’d like to see on the racetrack more often than she is.

#2- Third Gear (Smokey Stover, ridden by L Saez)- She draws the assignment of trying to get the trainer his second consecutive win in the Doubledogdare Stakes, and she has certainly shown that she knows how to win. Overall, in eleven starts, she has six victories with her biggest one being the Grade 1 Cotillion, which finished off a three-race winning streak and sent her into the BC Distaff. She’s been pretty quiet since the BC and was a non-factor in the Azeri at OP last month. Her track record shows that she can rebound without a problem, though if she is as heavily bet as she has been in the past, she might not provide much value.

#3- Ifyerwokeyerajoke (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by J R Velazquez)- This Zero Return filly was at her best during the summer last year, registering back-to-back wins in the IA Oaks, and the Grade 1 Test. After that, she was off to the Cotillion, and turned in a very positive effort, placing third. Since then, she has not been as effective, though did get a fourth-place check in the BC Fillies and Mares Sprint. Hasn’t earned a penny in her two starts this year and will be back out there after two months of rest, hoping that the time off will be beneficial.

#4- Retrospect (Mb Stables, ridden by P Lopez)- Mb Stables had a stranglehold on this race from 2018-2020, and will take a break for a moment in figuring out who is KYD runners will be to watch Retrospect. In her last race, the filly had no issue with the mud in winning the Grade 1 Beholder, a race that we did also see Tenrikyo in. Prior to that, she won the $100.000 Broadway for NY-breds, and impressively, she has hit the board in her 13 races, a stretch that goes back almost exactly two full years. She’s also never been lower than fourth. While I don’t think that this race has a clear-cut favorite, I will be making her my pick to win.

#5- Scalp (Spankys Barn, ridden by T Gaffalione)- We last saw this filly by Rumble last month in the Azeri, and she ended up finishing third. It was just one of many strong, consistent runs that she has had for Spankys Barn ever since he picked her up in a $25.000 claimer last year. Scalp won her first two races off the claim, including the Grade 3 Lake George at SAR and while she has not had a win since then, she had near misses in both the Valley View at KEE, and on the main track in the La Canada Stakes at SA.

#6- Ask Forfree Delivery (Arindel, ridden by L Dettori)- Last June, she would win the Grade 2 Mother Goose, but that still stands as her last graded win. Two starts after that, she ran in the Cotillion, and was never a factor and was since dropped into overnights at high levels. That will still mean running in some very good fields, and the optional claimer she won in January also featured Jinxed Artist, who was second in the Cotillion. In similar conditions last month, she was not as impressive, but the trainer is not letting that get in the way of moving her back up into this level. Can be a contender, but I trust others more.

Prediction: 4-5-1-2

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES