Dressed in Hermes tests dirt again in Sham

Jan 08, 2016 Vance Hanson/Brisnet.com

Dressed in Hermes is the most accomplished of the nine three-year-olds entered in Saturday’s $100,000 Sham (G3) at Santa Anita, but must show he can run as effectively on dirt as he does on turf to take the one-mile test.

The Sham serves as the second Kentucky Derby qualifier of 2016. As part of the “Prep Season” in the Road to the Kentucky Derby series, the race will award points on a 10-4-2-1 scale to the top four finishers.

After a fourth-place finish to future multiple graded stakes winner Exaggerator in his debut on the main track. Dressed in Hermes found his best stride on grass. Breaking his maiden in the $100,000 Zuma Beach at Santa Anita in October, the Hat Trick gelding followed up with a fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) and a victory in the Cecil B. DeMille (G3) at Del Mar.

Bob Baffert and Doug O’Neill, who each trained one of the last three Southern California-based horses to win the Kentucky Derby (G1), both have multiple representatives in the Sham. Baffert, who conditioned American Pharoah, will be represented by Collected, who finished second to Dressed in Hermes in the DeMille most recently, and last-out maiden winner Let’s Meet in Rio.

O’Neill, who won the Derby in 2012 with I’ll Have Another, has entered multiple stakes winner Found Money, recent Los Alamitos allowance scorer Semper Fortis, and Sorryaboutnothing, who trailed throughout in the Los Alamitos Futurity (G1) and adds blinkers for the Sham.

Others expected to receive play in the Sham include the Jerry Hollendorfer trained I’malreadythere, who has placed in four consecutive stakes including the Los Alamitos Futurity, and Rare Candy, fourth in his last three stakes tries and another who adds blinkers in the hope it will spark improvement.

The Sham field is rounded out by the maiden Laoban.

(Dressed in Hermes photo: Benoit Photos)