Claiborne
Farm
and Adele Dilschneider’s Sign was nothing short of dominant in
her 11 ¾-length victory at Saratoga in her career debut and trainer Al Stall
Jr. is hoping for a similar performance from the bay daughter of Pulpit in
Sunday’s $150,000-added Pocahontas (Grade II).
“She
was training really well and we thought she had a chance, but didn’t expect her
to win like that,” Stall said. “Her win was exciting and certainly gives us
hope coming into the (Pocahontas).”
Sign,
the 5-2 favorite on Mike Battaglia’s morning line, will be coming off a
two-month layoff in the Pocahontas.
“She
was at Keeneland before going to Saratoga and we thought she trained better on
the dirt (at Saratoga) than on the Polytrack (at Keeneland),” Stall said. “We
decided to keep her on the dirt, so we skipped Turfway and Keeneland and
pointed to Churchill.
“She
came to Churchill right after her race at Saratoga, so she’s comfortable in her
surroundings. She’s doing well and training nicely.”
Sign
was guided in her maiden score by Rosie Napravnik, who will be back in
the irons for the Pocahontas.