In her shocking 38-1 upset victory against Eclipse Award Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Wonder Wheel four weeks ago in the Suncoast Stakes, trainer Gerald Bennett's Florida-bred Dreaming of Snow displayed a tenacity through the stretch that reminded him of his childhood pet, a mongrel dog named Skip.
“My brother Carmen and I had the only two paper routes in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, and we'd take our dog with us,” Bennett said, reflecting back 65 years. “We'd do it in the morning before school and finish after school.
“When the (neighborhood) dogs would come out and chase us, they knew our dog was out there, and he'd go over and whip their a–. After a while, they wouldn't go out there anymore. They'd see us coming and go around the other way.”
One victory, no matter how impressive, does not cement a reputation, and Dreaming of Snow has much to prove in Saturday's Grade 3, $200,000 Florida Oaks, where she will face 11 other sophomore fillies in the mile-and-a-sixteenth event on the Tampa Bay Downs turf course. The Florida Oaks is the 10th race on a 12-race Festival Day 43 card beginning at 11:55 a.m.
Saturday's main event, of course, is the Grade 3, $400,000 Tampa Bay Derby, a mile-and-a-sixteenth race on dirt for 3-year-olds that is a “Road to the Kentucky Derby” points race, with 50, 20, 15, 10 and 5 Run for the Roses qualifying points going to the first five finishers. The Tampa Bay Derby, which is the 11th race and should go off around 5:15 p.m., is a 12-horse duel, with trainer Todd Pletcher's Tapit Trice and jockey Luis Saez the 8-5 morning-line favorites and Pletcher stablemate Shesterkin and Edgard Zayas 9-2 second choices.
Although there is no Wonder Wheel for Dreaming of Snow to contend with in the Florida Oaks, the depth of competition appears greater than in the Suncoast, with trainer Chad Brown's Free Look the 2-1 morning-line favorite and Dreaming of Snow one of three co-fourth choices at 8-1. The Florida Oaks also marks Dreaming of Snow's first turf try after posting three victories from five starts on the dirt.
Regardless of the questions, Bennett expects Dreaming of Snow and jockey Samy Camacho to take the fight to her competition.
“She never backs off in her workouts,” said Bennett. “She worked in company (last Saturday) with Lookin' Super, our 3-year-old gelding who broke his maiden going seven furlongs in 1:22 and change, and she just ran away and hid from him. (The Suncoast) didn't take much out of her. When she came back to the winner's circle, she was breathing so easy she wouldn't have blown out a match.”
As for the turf question, “All the ones by her sire, Jess's Dream (a son of Curlin), that have been running here on the grass are doing really great. Alexa's Dream (a 4-year-old Florida-bred filly), who we claimed a few races back, won a starter allowance going a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the turf and made a monster run (Wednesday) but got too far back early and finished third at a flat mile.
“So, you're concerned Dreaming of Snow doesn't handle the grass for whatever reason, but you've got to go in there and try it,” said Bennett, the perennial leading Oldsmar trainer who is bidding for his first Florida Oaks victory.
The conditioner, who also considered the Grade 3, mile-and-a-sixteenth Fantasy Stakes on April 1 at Oaklawn Park for Dreaming of Snow's next start, wants Camacho to let the filly be herself Saturday, in the parlance of a horse trying to get from the No. 5 post position to the wire ahead of the rest. She led every step of the way in the Suncoast, and might try to do so again.
“It (over-thinking the possible pace scenarios) is how you get yourself beat,” Bennett said. “Everybody says 'look at this speed in here, look at that speed,' and you start changing your mind and tell the jock to see how it unfolds.
“Well, who's got time to watch all those signals and traffic lights, and a hole just opened up and you missed it? Just let her do her own thing, and if we get beat say we weren't good enough and that's it,” Bennett said.
The post Another Upset Brewing? Bennett Wants Dreaming Of Snow To ‘Do Her Own Thing’ In Florida Oaks appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
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