Phillip Maas’ homebred A She's Adorable will be seeking her second straight victory against stakes company when she meets nine rivals in the $200,000 Robert G. Dick Memorial Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Delaware Park July 17.
The 1 3/8-mile turf test for fillies and mares is one race prior to the $750,000 Delaware Handicap (gr. II), which is the racetrack’s premier event of the season. A 12-race program was carded.
A She’s Adorable brings a 4-4-1 record from 10 starts with earnings of $160,600 into the Robert Dick. In her last outing, the 4-year-old daughter of Johar—She’s Scrumpy, by Squadron Leader, posted a 1 1/4-length score in the 1 1/16-mile John Rooney Memorial at Delaware on June 19. Previously, the Michael Stidham trainee ran second in a one mile turf allowance at Arlington Park.
Stidham said having a stakes victory over the course is a plus for A She’s Adorable, the 7-2 second choice on the morning line.
“I always think that is an advantage when you run on the surface especially since I think it is her best race to date,” he said. “She has been doing great. She has been training well and we have had a couple of works since the race.”
Last year, A She’s Adorable started her career by running second in a $25,000 maiden claimer. At the time, she did not show her connections anything extraordinary.
“Early on in her training, she just showed us average to moderate ability,” said Stidham. “There really was nothing about her that made us think she was going to be a stakes horse, so at that time we decided to start her off where we thought she would be competitive. She ran a real good race that day and we look at the Ragozin numbers quite a bit for placement of our horses. After we saw the number that she ran first time out, we decided to actually raise her up off of that.
“She has just been impressive ever since. She is just one of those fillies that no matter where you put her, she really tries hard for you and you cannot ask for more than that.”
Rosie Napravnik will keep the mount on A She’s Adorable.
The 123-pound high weight and 5-2 choice is English-bred
Treat Gently, romping winner of the Sheepshead Bay (gr. IIT) May 22 at Belmont. The 5-year-old Juddmonte Farms homebred earned her first stakes win in the United States in that 4 1/2-length victory. The Bill Mott trainee raced at 2 and 3 in France, where she was a group II winner. John Velazquez will be aboard for the first time.
$200,000 Robert Dick Memorial (gr. IIIT), Fillies & Mares 3 & Up, 1 3/8 Miles (Turf)
PP. Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer
1. Rcuandry (KY), J Rose, 117, H G Motion
2. Trensa (KY), J Valdivia Jr., 117, M R Matz
3. Proud Lisa (KY), B J Hernandez Jr., 117, J F Orseno
4. Winter's Circle (KY), A Cintron, 117, R J Bugge
5. Gozzip Girl (KY), E Trujillo, 117, T Albertrani
6. A She's Adorable (KY), A R Napravnik, 119, M Stidham
7. Katara (KY), A Garcia, 117, M R Matz
8. Treat Gently (GB), J R Velazquez, 123, W I Mott
9. Ainamaa (KY), A Castellano Jr., 117, G A Griffith
10. Liberally (IRE), W Antongeorgi III, 117, T Albertrani
