Not This Time got his 14th graded stakes winner of the year Sunday at Keeneland when Time to Dazzle won the $400,000 Franklin S. (G2) after making up some eight lengths in the stretch to win by a nose over Kehoe Beach.
Time To Dazzle won this same race a year ago and is now a three-time stakes winner of $1,421,521 for owner Tracy Farmer.
Second in the Ladies Turf Sprint (G1) at Kentucky Downs in late August, Time to Dazzle was racing on yielding turf for the first time on Sunday. She was near the back of the pack for much of the race before starting her rally turning for home. With a relentless drive, the gray/roan 5-year-old made up a seemingly insurmountable deficit in the final furlong to secure her third career graded win.
“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,” winning rider Irad Ortiz, Jr. said. “She broke so good. I just waited (for) my time, trying to relax. On the turn I had to wait a little longer, but she got there. She did a great job. 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.”
Owner Tracy Farmer purchased the winner for $310,000 out of the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling sale. She was bred in Kentucky by Dr. Rodney Orr and is a half-sister to multiple stakes winner Sir Genghis.
