Although Dulcimer Dame had finished a nondescript sixth that afternoon at Keeneland, she has yet to taste defeat in eight outings since being relocated to Charles Town. Dulcimer Dame won her first start for Farrior and owner Richard Burnsworth at Charles Town last fall, and the six-year-old Mineshaft mare has reeled off seven straight wins already this year, accounting for exactly one-half of her career total.

“I was really looking to get one of the other mares in that race,” Farrior said. “But I lost out in a shake for her. I was the only one to put in a claim for Dulcimer Dame. She was [15-1] in there, so I didn’t think there would be much interest in her. I thought she could do well in the starter fives at Charles Town, which is why I went out there and claimed her.”

That’s proved wise. Seven of her eight wins have come in starter allowance company, including the most recent March 30. That followed, by just one week, a step-up effort against allowance rivals, which she won by 1 ½ lengths at odds of 1-9.

“She’s been racing basically every two to three weeks and then she won last week [on March 30] only one week after she had won an allowance race,” Farrior said. “That was a very quick turnaround. But I was trying to trick them. I figured once they saw her in that allowance race [on March 23] that she would not go in that starter [on March 30] and the race would fill and I could drop right in. She won again [on March 30] at 1-9, but that was worst performance of the year, so I decided to give her a little break.”

The break may do her some good. She’s raced 32 times since the beginning of 2021. On the other hand, you can’t argue with the form she’s in.

In her first start for Farrior at Charles Town last November 10, Dulcimer Dame easily lived up to her role as the 2-1 favorite in a two-turn starter allowance event with jockey J.D. Acosta in the irons when she gained command soon after the break then widened her advantage through the lane en route to a 3 1/2-length score while stopping the timer in 1:19.53 for the 6 1/2-furlong affair. It was the last time that Farrior would give Acosta a leg up aboard the mare and the final time she would go postward above even money.

In fact, Dulcimer Dame would win her next seven starts with leading rider Arnaldo Bocachica aboard by an average margin of just over three lengths and at an average price of 1-5, with three of those tallies as the overwhelming 1-9 choice. Thus far in 2023 she has posted a pair of wins in January, two more in February and three in March.

Dulcimer Dame began the current campaign by winning a two-turn starter allowance by nearly four lengths as the 1-2 choice while getting the seven furlongs in 1:26.66. Two weeks later she defeated similar foes by four lengths as the 2-5 favorite while getting the 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:19.89. She was equally as good in February, taking a pair of starter optional events going seven panels by a combined eight lengths as the 1-9 and 1-5 favorite, respectively.

In March Dulcimer Dame recorded three more victories in two-turn events over the Charles Town strip, all at odds-on with Bocachica in the irons. She prevailed as the 1-5 choice on March 4 by four lengths while getting seven panels in 1:27 flat then notched two more victories on March 23 and March 30, respectively, while traveling the two-turn distance of 6 1/2 furlongs and doing so as the overwhelming 1-9 favorite on each of those two occasions.

As well as the plan has worked, it is a plan with a kind of expiration date. Dulcimer Dame last ran for a $5,000 tag April 14, 2021. Since starter races commonly have a two-year window of eligibility, she may have to tackle tougher foes soon, unless her connections want to roll the dice.

“She still had another six months of eligibility when I looked back at her lines, so that window is about to close here pretty soon,” Farrior said.

Dulcimer Dame’s gaudy 7-for-7 ledger makes her the winningest runner in the nation. In fact, she has two more wins than any other horse, though her $103,000 in earnings this year leaves her a long way behind national leader Art Collector, who has earned nearly $1.8 million.

It also has helped Farrior to 73 wins thus far this year, good for third nationally. He is far and away the leader at Charles Town this year with 55 wins and more than $980,000 in purse earnings from 193 starters as of April 6.