In the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga on June 8, Dornoch defeated Mindframe by a half-length after a stretch duel. On Saturday, in the Grade 1, $1.05 million Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park, those two top 3-year-olds met again and the results were remarkably similar as Dornoch won again. This time the winning margin was 1 1/4-lengths.
On a cloudy day at the Jersey Shore, the 38,976 racing fans that were in attendance helped to make Mindframe the 4-5 favorite and Dornoch was the 3-1 third-choice in the pari-mutuel win pool.
Dornoch broke quickly from rail with jockey Luis Saez, went right to the lead and opened up a comfortable half-length lead which he maintained for the first two calls which were run in 23.32 and 48.08 seconds. Mindframe was fourth in the early going, two lengths behind Dornoch.
“He always breaks from there and wants to be on the engine,” Saez explained. “The plan was to break good from there and put him in the race. He did it. He showed up today.”
After six furlongs went in 1:12.05, Dornoch gave up the lead briefly to Timberlake while Mindframe began to close in on the leaders. By the time they hit the top of the stretch, Mindframe had taken a half-length lead and appeared to be on his way to a victory.
Just as it happened in the Belmont Stakes, Dornoch battled back while racing closest to the rail. Once again, Mindframe drifted around in the stretch. First he moved in, got corrected by the crop of his regular jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., and then drifted out. This enabled the determined Dornoch to draw away to his second Grade 1 victory and the fifth win from nine career starts.
