by James Scully
Craig B. Singer’s homebred Salty Strike rallied to the lead
leaving the far turn and drew clear to an easy win in Saturday’s $109,300, Grade
3
Dogwood
Stakes, notching her first stakes victory with a 3 3/4-length decision in
the one-mile test for three-year-old fillies. With jockey Manoel Cruz in the
saddle, the Kenny McPeek pupil completed the one-turn distance in 1:35 1/5 at
Churchill Downs.
Might, a full sister to Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and champion
Blame, raced near the back of the pack during the early stages and was never a
serious factor, finishing fifth as the 4-5 favorite in her stakes bow.
Salty Strike entered the Dogwood off a seven-length win over
allowance/optional claiming rivals on May 20 and also broke her maiden at
Churchill Downs a little more than a year ago. The dark bay now owns a 4-3-0-1
mark under the Twin Spires, the lone setback being a neck third in the Grade 3 Debutante last summer. Her overall ledger reads
7-3-1-1, with $152,492 in
earnings.
Off as the 5-1 third choice among six rivals, Salty Strike returned $12.80,
$4.80 and $3.20 to her supporters. Debut maiden winner Fantasy of Flight, who established early fractions in :23 and :46 on a short lead, held
well for second in her second career start. She was off as the 2-1 second
choice. It was 1 1/4 lengths back the 5-1 Gran Lioness, who edged
35-1 outsider Angelica Zapata by a neck for third. Holy Heavens
trailed under the wire, and Henny’s Hurricane and
Juanita were both scratched.
The Kentucky-bred Salty Strike is out of the winning Salt Lake mare Lake
Huron, who is also the dam of the stakes-winning filly Salty Response;
multiple stakes runner-up Northern Vacation; the yearling filly
Iroquois Girl; and a 2011 filly by Stormy Atlantic. This is the
female family of noted sire Halo.