Unleashing her trademark late kick, 5-year-old Time to Dazzle lived up to her name, charging from the back of the pack to capture the $400,000 Franklin Stakes (G2T) Oct. 11 at Keeneland for the second year in a row. She edged the Wesley Ward-trained Kehoe Beach by a nose at the wire.
Time to Dazzle broke cleanly under Irad Ortiz Jr. and settled near the back of the pack with longshot Itzel taking the group through swift fractions of :22.47 and :45.49 for the half mile.
"The ground was a little soft, so I just wanted to give her a chance and try to make a run at the end; hopefully, they'd come back to me," said Ortiz, who was aboard the mare for the first time. "She broke so good. I just waited (for) my time, trying to relax."
Turning for home, Itzel maintained the advantage but was slowly giving way as Kehoe Beach started to move down the center of the track, with Time to Dazzle launching a powerful late rally on the outside.
"On the turn I had to wait a little longer, but she got there. She did a great job," Ortiz said. "When I tipped her out, she gave me a good kick turning for home. Especially on this ground—a little soft, it's hard to have that kind of turn of foot, but she did and I knew we had every chance to get there."
The final time for the 5 1/2-furlong race over the yielding turf was 1:04.52. Kehoe Beach was second, with Itzel holding on for third. Grade 1 winner Ag Bullet was never a factor and finished last in the seven-horse field.
Six-year-old Ag Bullet has won over $3 million during her illustrious career and is entered in the Nov. 2 at Fasig-Tipton's The November Sale.
Time to Dazzle had been winless since last year's Franklin Stakes when she prevailed by 3 1/4 lengths over In Our Time. In her last start, she finished 3 1/2 lengths behind In Our Time in the $1.75 million Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf Sprint Stakes (G1T) Aug. 29.
A daughter of Not This Time , Time to Dazzle was bred in Kentucky by Dr. Rodney Orr and purchased by Tracy Farmer for $310,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. She has a record of 5-4-1 from 21 career starts and a bankroll of $1,421,521.
"She loves it here and this is her weather," Farmer said. "It's wonderful to win a race at Keeneland. She does it that way (from well off the pace) all the time, but it makes you nervous. She's a wonderful filly."
