Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Dixie Moon prepping in Oaks
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Catherine Day Phillips and owners and breeders Sean and Dorothy Fitzhenry are attacking the Queen’s Plate for the second year in a row.
At this time last year, Day Phillips and the Fitzhenry family were celebrating a victory in the Plate Trial with Guy Caballero. This year, Guy Caballero’s younger half-sister Dixie Moon is looking to claim her place in the Queen’s Plate starting gate. She is expected to be among the favorites for Saturday’s $500,000 Woodbine Oaks, which would serve as her final prep for the $1 million Queen’s Plate on June 30.
“For anyone involved in Canadian racing, the Queen’s Plate is the ultimate prize and the dream,” Day Phillips said. “It’s very exciting to be back and to have another chance at it.”
Dixie Moon had a productive 2-year-old campaign in 2017, winning three of five starts, including two stakes victories. Day Phillips said she and the Fitzhenrys thought very highly of Dixie Moon as soon as she arrived at the barn to begin her training last summer.
“We always thought she was that quality of a filly,” she said. “It seems crazy with a horse that hasn’t run, but she always showed a lot of ability.”
Dixie Moon won her career debut going seven furlongs on Aug. 19. Day Phillips said the race appeared to take a lot out of Dixie Moon, but the filly still made her stakes debut in the Grade 1 Natalma on Sept. 17.
“We said afterwards there was no way we were going to the Natalma, but as we got a little closer to the Natalma, she changed and started to do better and put a little weight back on,” she said. “We ran in the Natalma, and she ran a super race.”
Dixie Moon set the pace in the Natalma, was caught in the final strides by Capla Temptress, and settled for second, finishing ahead of Woodbine Oaks leading contender Wonder Gadot.
Following the Natalma, Day Phillips said she was looking to keep the filly on turf, which led to a start against males in the Cup and Saucer Stakes. She won that race by one length over Queen’s Plate contenders Strike Me Down and Rose’s Vision.
After that pair of strong turf races, Dixie Moon was pointed to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar.
“She seemed to be thriving with racing, so I thought it was a pretty special opportunity to run a homebred,” Day Phillips said. “The [owners] have the whole family, and it was really special for them.”
Day Phillips said Dixie Moon had been training well for the Breeders’ Cup, but once the gates opened, she stumbled and lost early positioning. She raced in midpack under jockey Eurico Da Silva, finishing sixth, 3 3/4 lengths behind winner Rushing Fall.
“She was kind of thrown off her game from the minute the gate opened,” Day Phillips said. “She never got into her big, long stride. It is what it is. That’s horse racing.”
While Day Phillips thought Dixie Moon’s season was over following the Breeders’ Cup, the filly had other ideas. She thrived back at Woodbine, leading to a start in the Ontario Lassie Stakes, which she won by a nose over Queen’s Fate.
“We weren’t really expecting to run her again, but she seemed to be looking for more,” Day Phillips said. “I think we needed to find out where we were at with Tapeta. We knew she loved the turf.”
Dixie Moon then was sent to the Palm Meadows training center in Florida for the winter. After a break, she resumed training in January and made her 3-year-old debut April 8 in the Grade 2 Appalachian Stakes at Keeneland. The race was run on yielding turf, and Dixie Moon trailed throughout.
“Maybe she wasn’t tight enough,” Day Phillips said. “Maybe it was her blood work, as it came back a little off. Maybe she didn’t like the softer going. It might have been a combination of all three factors that gave her a bit of an unusual race.”
Dixie Moon bounced back nicely in the Grade 3 Selene Stakes on May 19, her final prep for the Woodbine Oaks, finishing second by a neck to Miss Mo Mentum. She showed a new dimension by settling off the pace in the Selene, which Day Phillips said would help Dixie Moon in the Woodbine Oaks and the Queen’s Plate.
“If she can continue to be like that, that will be the difference in her getting the extra distance and being more effective,” she said.
Day Phillips said Dixie Moon has been training well for the Woodbine Oaks.
“We’ve just gone easy with her because it’s a busy few weeks coming up,” she said. “She’s pretty fit and doesn’t need to be pressed on too hard.”