As 2014 rapidly draws to an end, there was talk of May in the air on Saturday. Specifically, the first Saturday in May, and once again all the buzz seemed a tad premature at the end of the day.
The $500,000 Los Alamitos Futurity offered this year's crop of 2-year-olds one last chance for Grade 1 glory in 2014 and an opportunity to pick up as many as 10 points in the Road to the Kentucky Derby points chase.
Only five horses turned out for the mile and a sixteenth test, but foremost among them was a highly talented and acclaimed juvenile who faced his first acid test. Dortmund passed it, but not by much.
Coming into Saturday, the Los Alamitos Futurity was one of the year's most eagerly awaited juvenile races because it upped the ante for Dortmund. An easy maiden winner at Santa Anita and an even easier winner of a subsequent allowance race at Churchill Downs, Dortmund created such a stir that he was he sent off as the favorite among the 23 individual entries in the first installment of Kentucky Derby future wagering.
After Saturday, Dortmund's backers still have an undefeated runner on their hands, but it certainly wasn't easy.
After Saturday, Dortmund's backers still have an undefeated runner on their hands, but it certainly wasn't easy.
Dortmund lived up to his 3-5 odds at Los Alamitos, but he needed every inch of the mile and a sixteenth distance to finally stick his nose in front and prevail by a head in a three-horse duel to the wire with Firing Line and Mr. Z.
Though there were just five starters, at least two of them were quality opponents. Firing Line was coming off an impressive 4 ¼-length victory in a maiden race and Mr. Z has already finished second in four graded stakes.
It was hardly a victory over a field of slow-pokes, yet it wasn't the decisive victory most would expect from an early favorite for the Kentucky Derby.
In time, as the road to Louisville in May grows more difficult and demanding, more will be learned about Dortmund, who received an education of sorts on Saturday.
''He learned a lot,'' jockey Martin Garcia said. ''That was the first time he went two turns and usually he's right there [on the lead], but today they broke really fast. I was pretty comfortable. I knew what I had underneath.''
What type of 3-year-old crop awaits us in 2015 is a different story. As the Triple Crown drought turns 37 years-old, there's hope that a runner supremely talented enough to sweep the Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes may finally emerge. Evidence of that happening is a different matter.
Dortmund looked good, but not overpowering in his stakes debut. Texas Red was a far more convincing 6 ½-length winner of the BC Juvenile, but he was a 13-1 shot in that race and still has much to prove before spring rolls around. American Pharoah, whose two Grade 1 wins may very well earn him an Eclipse Award as the champion 2-year-old male, missed the Breeders' Cup due to a foot injury. According to a report by Daily Racing Form's Jay Privman, he is not expected to race again until March, which leaves little room for setbacks on the comeback trail.
It's not a rosy picture, but much can and will change in the next six months. Perhaps Dortmund will continue to notch victories and become a superstar. As one year ends and another year ends, it's at least food for thought.