NEWS
Daaher to make four-year-old debut in Donn
Posted: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 6:29 PM
DAAHER
Adam Coglianese/NYRA photo
by Mike Curry
Daaher solidified his credentials as a formidable contender this year in the handicap division by closing his three-year-old season with three straight victories, including a 2 1/2-length score in the Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile Handicap (G1).
Shadwell Stable’s Awesome Again colt will make his season debut against eight challengers on Saturday at Gulfstream Park in the $500,000 Donn Handicap (G1), a 1 1/8-mile race for older horses.
A full brother to multiple Grade 1 winner Spun Sugar, Daaher won one of his first four starts last season in his first year of racing and finished third in the Prince of Wales Stakes on July 15 at Fort Erie.
Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin subsequently added blinkers for an allowance race at Saratoga Race Course, and Daaher responded positively with a 13 3/4-length romp in the 1 1/18-mile race. He followed with a 2 1/4-length score in the Jerome Handicap (G2) on October 7 at Belmont Park and capped his campaign with a 2 1/2-length win in the Cigar Mile, where he defeated 2007 champion sprinter Midnight Lute.
McLaughlin is pointing Daaher to the $6-million Emirates Airline Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) on March 29 at Nad al Sheba.
Brass Hat followed the same path in 2006, winning the Donn Handicap prior to a runner-up finish in that year’s Dubai World Cup. However, the Prized gelding was disqualified for a medication violation after he tested positive for the corticosteroid methylprednisolone acetate, which is banned on race day in Dubai.
Brass Hat’s trainer, Buff Bradley, argued that he followed a withdrawal guideline that he received from Dubai racing officials of administering the medication at least 23 days before the race, but stewards stripped Brass Hat of the $1.2-million he earned for finishing second to Electrocutionist.
After a fifth-place finish in the 2006 Stephen Foster Handicap (G1), Brass Hat suffered a career-threatening ankle injury that sidelined him for more than a year. He returned in July 2007 and won two of six starts, including a three-quarter-length win in the Massachusetts Handicap.
Other Donn Handicap contenders include Grade 1 winner Einstein (Brz), 2007 Etisalat Godolphin Mile (UAE-G2) winner Spring At Last, and ’07 Clark Handicap (G2) winner A. P. Arrow.
Mike Curry is Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor
The field, in post-position order with (sire), jockey, weight and trainer:
1. Wood Be Willing (Pulpit), Jose Lezcano, 115, Allen Jerkens;
2. Spring At Last (Silver Deputy), Eibar Coa, 119, Doug O'Neill;
3. Dr Googles Boogles (Richter Scale), Kent Desormeaux, 115, Dale Romans;
4. Daaher (Awesome Again), Michael Luzzi, 120, Kiaran McLaughlin;
5. A. P. Arrow (A.P. Indy), Ramon Dominguez, 119, Todd Pletcher;
6. Fairbanks (Giant's Causeway), John Velazquez, 116, Todd Pletcher;
7. Kiss the Kid (Lemon Drop Kid), Eddie Castro, 115, Amy Tarrant;
8. Brass Hat (Prized), Willie Martinez, 118, William Bradley; and
9. Einstein [Brz] (Spend a Buck), Edgar Prado, 119, Helen Pitts.
