Dortmund, the horse, fared better than Dortmund the soccer team on Saturday.
While the soccer team fell to Bayern Munich, 1-0, Dortmund the 3-year-old was dazzling in remaining unbeaten in the Santa Anita Derby.
Dortmund, ridden by Martin Garcia, went to the front and set comfortable fractions. He got a tap on the shoulder from Garcia coming out of the turn and kicked away from his foes.
He blew away his foes, opening five lengths in deep stretch and coasting to victory.
Trainer Bob Baffert will send the unbeaten Dortmund to Kentucky. He will be one of the favorites -- if not the favorite -- in the Run for the Roses.
"I was a little bit worried when he made the lead so easily because he likes to lolly-gag," said Baffert, who won his seventh Santa Anita Derby and sent out second-place finisher One Lucky Dane.
Dortmund returned $3.20 for a $2 bet as the heavy favorite.
"I was really comfortable," Garcia said. "The horse was really good. He is still learning. When somebody goes next to him and I ask him to go, he just takes off.
Baffert also trains top contender American Pharoah, who is scheduled to run in the April 11 Arkansas Derby. One historical fact that is not in Baffert's favor: None of the other horses that he trained to win the Santa Anita Derby went on to win the Kentucky Derby.
The Santa Anita Derby was contested over 1 1/8 miles. It is the final California prep for the Kentucky Derby.
The race attracted a compact field of six and carried a purse of $1,000,000.
In another major Derby prep, Carpe Diem continued to establish himself as a Kentucky Derby threat with a sold victory in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.
Carpe Diem returned $2.80 as the odds-on favorite in the Blue Grass.
Carpe Diem has won the Keeneland's Grade I Breeders' Futurity in 2014l and the Grade III Tampa Bay Derby. His only defeat in five starts is a second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
