The $250,000 Robert G. Dick Memorial Stakes (G3T) drew a field worthy of a grade 1 for its 27th running at Delaware Park, including star turf mare War Like Goddess.
Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, War Like Goddess has been lured from her home base and typical target of the Aug. 1 Glens Falls Stakes (G2T) at Saratoga Race Course to contest the 1 3/8-mile Robert G. Dick Memorial. The move was unexpected, as the daughter of English Channel has competed in the last three editions of the Glens Falls, capturing the race in 2021 and 2022 and finishing second in 2023.
War Like Goddess made her return to the races as a 7-year-old in the June 7 New York Stakes (G1T) on Belmont Stakes (G1) weekend at the Spa. The Greg Krikorian runner closed gamely from the back of the pack but her trademark kick fell 3 1/4 lengths short of catching the victorious Didia. She settled for third in her first race since the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) last fall.
Junior Alvarado, the mare's passenger in her last three outings, travels south to pilot War Like Goddess in the Dick Memorial. The late-running mare, purchased for only $30,000 as a 2-year-old, will look to enhance her already impressive bankroll of $2.6 million.
The grade 3 will certainly be no walk in the park for War Like Goddess, having drawn in a slew of stakes-winning turf fillies and mares, many of whom are route specialists on the lawn. New York trainer Christophe Clement ships down to high-caliber European-breds in Atomic Blonde and La Mehana. Atomic Blonde, owned by Clement, West Point Thoroughbreds, and Winters Equine, notched her first North American black-type victory in the 1 1/2-mile Keertana Stakes May 25 at Churchill Downs. In that effort, she ran down Bewitch Stakes (G3T) heroine Chop Chop for a half-length score. The two will resume their rivalry Sunday.
Clement also sends out LSU Stables' La Mehana, who finished with interest when closing to be third in the May 3 Sheepshead Bay Stakes (G3T) over the Dick Memorial distance at Aqueduct Racetrack. The start was the second United States start for the daughter of Al Wukair, a stakes winner in her native France.
Not to be dismissed are the three speed horses in the race: Chop Chop, Alpha Bella, and Vergara. Todd Pletcher trainee Alpha Bella captured the La Prevoyante Stakes (G3T) at Gulfstream Park over the winter in front-running fashion while Vergara, a proven graded stakes winner over a route of ground, hails from the barn of nine-time Dick Memorial-winning trainer Graham Motion. Motion took last year's rendition with Sopran Basilea.
"I think we are bringing a nice one, so it will be fun to take a run at another win in this race," Motion said. "We are having a nice run with the race and we feel good about Vergara's chances."
Delaware Park, Sunday, July 7, 2024, Race 8Entries: Robert G. Dick Memorial S. (G3T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1La Mehana (FR) Jose L. Ortiz 118 Christophe Clement 6/1 2 2Lullaby Land (FL) Francisco Martinez 118 Jack Abrams 20/1 3 3Pretty Provocative (KY) Francisco Arrieta 118 Thomas Molloy 12/1 4 4Freydis the Red (FR) Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. 118 Kenneth G. McPeek 8/1 5 5Atomic Blonde (GER) Julien R. Leparoux 124 Christophe Clement 4/1 6 6Alpha Bella (KY) Javier Castellano 124 Todd A. Pletcher 8/1 7 7Chop Chop (KY) Flavien Prat 124 Brad H. Cox 9/2 8 8Vergara (KY) Jorge Ruiz 118 H. Graham Motion 6/1 9 9War Like Goddess (KY) Junior Alvarado 118 William I. Mott 3/1
