When She Is So Glad upset last weekend’s distaff feature at 21-1 at Cal-Expo, it was yet another feather in the cap of her dam Glad Dor, who has been the gift that keeps on giving since she was retired to the breeding shed by Jim Wilkinson, Jr. and partners.
A New Zealand-bred, Glad Dor had won two races in her native country when she came to North America and joined the Wilkinson barn in 2001. She captured five of her 13 stateside appearances, including a sparkling 1:53.3 score over this track as a sophomore, and has produced a steady stream of swift performers since taking on the role of mother.
“We were rolling at the time and bought her from New Zealand for $25,000,” Wilkinson related. “She was very talented, as you can see by that 1:53 and change mile she went here, but by the next year she kind of flipped out mentally and we decided to retire her.”
Glad Dor has had six pacers get to the races, and five of them have been stakes winners. Her first two were sons of Power Of Art, with I Am So Glad sporting a mark of 1:52.3, while Voucher Destroyer has a 1:54.3 career standard.
Her next to the wars was the Tulane distaffer Wooski, a stakes victress with a 1:54.1 mark; while two more Power Of Arts followed in Glad To Be Back with a 1:51.4 lifetime best and the aforementioned She Is So Glad, who has a 1:55 tour on the resume. Glad To Be Here, a victorious son of The Panderosa, is her most recent starter.
“She’s been very good to us so far, and we’re hoping the best is still to come,” Wilkinson said. “She pretty much stamps all of them the same, because they are big and powerful, just like her. The other thing they have in common is extreme speed.”
Wilkinson thinks Glad Dor’s two-year-old Glad Its Over is going to be something special, as that one has been displaying all the right signs, as he gets ready for his debut. Unfortunately, last year she dropped a foal by Real Desire that has since died, and the partners decided to give her a season off before returning her to the breeding shed.
Live racing will resume at Cal-Expo on Thursday, February 24 and will continue through Saturday, February 26. First-race post time on Thursday is 5:30 p.m. (PST). First-race post time on Friday, February 25 and Saturday, February 26 is 6:00 p.m.
On Saturdays, Cal-Expo offers a reduced 15 per-cent takeout rate on both the Early and Late Pick-4 wagers, with both Pick-4s having a $10,000 gross-guaranteed pool.
(Cal-Expo)