Striker Has Dial is set to make her stakes debut in the $135,000 Wilton Stakes at Saratoga on Friday. The race, a one-mile test from Saratoga's Wilson chute, is open to sophomore fillies who have not won a sweepstake other than state-bred.
Striker Has Dial finished second in a one-mile allowance race on June 6 during the Belmont Stakes racing festival at Saratoga. She was a 28-1 long shot in that race.
In the Belmont allowance, she led the field through an opening quarter-mile in 23.69 seconds and splits of 46.82 and 1:11.16 on a fast main track. She was eventually passed in the turn and finished 8 1/4 lengths behind the Chad Brown-trained and Grade 1-placed Ways and Means.
Striker Has Dial registered a career- and field-best 89 Beyer Speed Figure in her last race, with a significant gap of 6 1/2 lengths to the third-place finisher, Miz Sense.
"It was a very honest effort. Coming from Maryland, breaking her maiden, that was a huge step-up. I think this is a good spot. Everyone is kind of in the same position; no one has won stakes in the race."
Striker Has Dial won her debut by six lengths on a muddy and sealed track over seven furlongs at Laurel Park in May. De Paz noted, "In her first race, she ran them off their feet. In New York, she placed herself in the same forward position in a pretty competitive field."
Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown, who won last year’s Wilton with Randomized (who later won the Grade 1 Alabama), will be represented by Bells Beach this year.
This promising candidate won her last race at Churchill Downs, graduating at second asking over one mile against older horses on June 1. She tracked from fifth in the 11-horse field and surged home to win by 5 1/2 lengths, earning an 81 Beyer Speed Figure.
Striker Has Dial's stakes debut in the Wilton Stakes will be a significant test, especially against strong competition like Bells Beach from Chad Brown’s stable. Trainer Horacio De Paz is optimistic, given her impressive performance in her allowance race and maiden victory, believing the race offers a balanced challenge for all contenders.