CNL: Big test for Dazzling Dame in Virginia Oaks
Maryland-bred has won four of five
Press Release
March 12, 2026
With four wins by a combined 21 lengths, including three stakes victories, the question Dazzling Dame will look to answer in Saturday’s $250,000 Virginia Oaks at Colonial Downs is: just how good is she?
The 1 1/16-mile Virginia Oaks is slated as Race 8 on Virginia Derby Day’s 10-race program. With six fillies entered, Kentucky Oaks qualifying points of 50-25-15-10-5 will be awarded to the top five finishers.
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Trained by Brittany Russell and owned by Respect the Valleys, Medallion Racing and Madaket Stables, Dazzling Dame has been campaigned like a true talent, and she has the resume to prove it. After her debut win by more than five lengths against fellow Maryland-bred juveniles at Laurel Park, she has only faced stakes company. Over five starts, all at different tracks, she has been defeated once, finishing fourth in the G3 Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs last September.
“I think we have to just keep testing her, right?” Russell said. “She works like she’s a good filly. She’s races like she’s a good filly. I think Saturday will tell us a lot.”
With 22 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points to her name, the lion’s share came with her Jan. 3 romp in the Busanda Stakes at Aqueduct. Winning by 11 1/2 lengths, Dazzling Dame handled the field with ease, cruising past her foes before being set down for a run in the stretch. For that effort, she earned a field-best 90 Beyer Speed Figure.
“It was really impressive,” Russell said. “She had been working really good up to the race, so we were expecting a big effort, but I’d be lying if I said I was expecting that kind of effort. Everything just worked out that day. It was a good ride. It was a good trip, and she ran huge.”
Dazzling Dame enters the Virginia Oaks with 10 weeks between races since her last start. She entered the Busanda off 12 weeks’ rest.
“She’s obviously done well with plenty of time between races,” Russell said. “She’s a horse that gets a lot out of what she does in the morning. She’s a big filly. There’s a lot in that frame to hold together, so the time between (the Busanda and the Virginia Oaks) was always appealing.”
The Girvin filly with natural speed drew the rail and, on paper, appears to have just one of her five rivals to beat to the lead in Kadabra, trained by Todd Pletcher.
“She’s obviously quick, and she keeps rolling,” Russell said. “That big filly sitting in there, you just hope she gets away from the gates in good order. I’m excited to see her face these fillies.”
Dazzling Dame was bred in Maryland by Maria Haire. She is out of the multiple stakes-placed Corinthian mare Awesome Dama.
Tabbed as the 5-2 second choice, Dazzling Dame will be reunited with jockey Jevian Toledo. The 6-5 morning line favorite is Bottle of Rouge; the Bob Baffert trainee won the Sunland Park Oaks last out and last September won the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante.
Other top contenders include Hit Parade (3-1), a Brad Cox trainee who won last December’s Untapable at the Fair Grounds, and the aforementioned Kadabra (6-1), who ran third in the Suncoast at Tampa Bay Downs last out.
The Virginia Derby Day program also includes the $500,000 Virginia Derby, a Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifying race, the $100,000 Fasig-Tipton Sandy Bottom Stakes and the $100,000 Royal New Kent Stakes. First post Saturday is 12 p.m. ET.
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