Dolce Zel made her U.S. debut in style Saturday when thrusting her head in front of stablemate Spicer in the stretch and holding on to capture the $200,000 Florida Oaks (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs,
Both the winner and runner-up are trained by Chad Brown, who earlier on the card sent out the top two finishers in the Hillsborough Stakes (G2): winner Bleecker Street and runner-up Rocky Sky.
Dolce Zel was a maiden winner at Longchamp in France in her second start before shipping to the U.S. and bridging a big class leap to graded competition in the Florida Oaks.
Under Irad Ortiz Jr., Dolce Zel stalked the front-runners from third then fourth before easing out for running room into the stretch. She dug in on cue and collared Spicer with a sixteenth to run and held on for the win with only a reminding tap of whip from Ortiz.
“I had a perfect trip, to be honest,” Ortiz said. “I was in beautiful position going into the first turn. Up the backside I followed the horse to beat, and that was the other filly for Chad (runner-up Spicer). She's a real nice filly, so I had her like a target. By the far turn, it looked like I was in good position and ready to roll, but Chad told me that when she makes the lead early she can wait on horses. So I was ready for that. When she hit the lead, she kind of waited a little bit for the other horses, so I hit her one time and she responded very well. She looks like a nice filly. She was ready today and she did everything right.”
Spicer, the 2-1 favorite outfinished On Alert, who rallied from last to take third, 1 1 /2 lengths back.
Dolce Zel, a 3-year-old French-bred daughter Zelzal out of the Dr Fong mare Dolce Attesa, covered 1 1/16 miles in 1: 44.18 on turf rated as good at the Oldsmar, Fla. track.
Sent off at 3-1, she returned $8.
Dolce Zel is owned by a partnership that includes Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, and Robert V. LaPenta.
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