Time to Dazzle Repeats in Keeneland Franklin Stakes

Time to Dazzle turned a soggy Keeneland turf course into a showcase for stamina and timing Sunday, surging from sixth to catch Kehoe Beach in the final stride of the $400,000 Franklin Stakes (G2). The nose victory made the 5-year-old mare a repeat winner of the 5 1/2-furlong race and gave trainer Mark Casse a much-needed breakthrough after six winless starts this season. Keeneland's race report credited the victory to owner Tracy Farmer and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.

The conditions made the performance more demanding than the final margin suggests. On yielding ground, 35-1 outsider Itzel established the pace through an opening quarter in 22.47 seconds and continued to lead into the turn. Kehoe Beach, ridden by José Ortiz, took command inside the final sixteenth, but Irad Ortiz had Time to Dazzle rolling five wide. The gray mare covered the distance in 1:04.52, with Itzel holding third by 1 1/4 lengths over Movin' On Up. Daily Racing Form's account described the course as rain-affected and noted that Ortiz waited patiently before asking for the decisive run.

The result was a sharp reversal of Time to Dazzle's recent bottom line, though not necessarily a surprise to handicappers watching her form. She had finished second in the Hendrie Stakes at Woodbine and then placed in the Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf SPrint (G1), showing that her speed had returned even while the wins remained elusive. Her affinity for Keeneland was the more important clue: she captured last year's Franklin by 3 1/4 lengths, and Sunday's rally confirmed that this course and the long final run suit her closing style. Pre-race form coverage identified those runner-up finishes as evidence of a mare rounding back into form.

Ortiz's ride also neutralized the principal risk in Time to Dazzle's profile. A deep closer can be compromised in a short turf sprint when the leaders get away with manageable fractions, but the yielding surface appeared to sap the speed of the horses in front. Time to Dazzle remained sixth at the three-sixteenths pole, moved to fourth with a furlong left, and kept producing through the final yards while Kehoe Beach began to tire. The margin was only a nose, but the trip showed that Casse and Ortiz had the mare ready to finish through an unusually demanding surface.

Time to Dazzle paid $6.10 as the 2-1 favorite and earned $241,800, lifting her career bankroll to $1,421,521. The victory improved her record to five wins from 21 starts and marked her first success since last year's Franklin. She was a $310,000 graduate of the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, making the repeat particularly fitting at the track where her value as a racehorse was established. Paulick Report's recap confirmed the purse distribution, career earnings and sale history.

For Casse and Farmer, the Franklin now looks less like a one-off course specialty and more like the defining race of Time to Dazzle's career. The mare's next assignment will depend on how she exits the taxing effort, but a second consecutive Grade 2 victory at Keeneland puts her back in the conversation for major late-season turf sprints. More importantly, she has shown that even when the pace does not collapse on paper, patience, proven course form and a determined late kick can still win the race.

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