By Joe Bianca
Vale Dori (Arg) (Asiatic Boy {Arg}), a victress of three consecutive Grade II events, will go for her first top-level score in the Grade I Santa Margarita S. at Santa Anita. Standing in her way is Finest City (City Zip), champion female sprinter of 2016, who stretches out to nine furlongs on dirt for the first time in her career. The two 5-year-old mares will line up side-by-side in the starting gate and are likely to eyeball each other several more times before the result is decided.
Owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Maktoum and trained by Bob Baffert, Vale Dori was a Group 1 winner in her native Argentina in 2015 before running second in the G2 UAE Oaks and fourth against males in the G2 UAE Derby last term. The bay has won five of seven starts since coming Stateside in the summer, but finished a distant third behind champions Stellar Wind (Curlin) and Beholder (Henny Hughes) in the GI Zenyatta S., her lone U.S. Grade I try, Oct. 1. She has reeled off comfortable scores in the GII Bayakoa H., GII La Canada S. and GII Santa Maria S. so far this winter.
Seltzer Thoroughbreds' Finest City earned her first graded score with an upset victory in the GII Great Lady M S. Apr. 23 at Los Alamitos and finished a much closer third than Vale Dori behind Stellar Wind and Beholder in the GI Vanity Mile here June 4, her only prior two-turn try on dirt. The chestnut, trained by 28-year-old Ian Kruljac, clinched her Eclipse honor with a game tally in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint Nov. 5 and easily annexed the GII Santa Monica S. when last seen Jan. 21.
Estrechada (Arg) (Offlee Wild) merits a longshot glance. The 6-year-old was beaten 51 lengths in the GII Marathon S. in her American debut, but perked up in her first start for trainer Mike Puype with a big runner-up effort at more than 56-1 in the Astra II S. over the Arcadia turf Feb. 2.
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