Dazzling Dame runs up to her name in Busanda

Jan 03, 2026 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Dazzling Dame wins the Busanda Stakes at Aqueduct. (Photo by Coglianese Photo / Credit to Joe Labozzetta)

Maryland shipper Dazzling Dame ran away with Saturday’s $145,500 Busanda S. at Aqueduct. Moreover, the Kentucky Oaks (G1) candidate clocked a faster time than the boys did in the Jerome S., a Road to the Kentucky Derby event earlier on the card.

Owned by Respect the Valleys and trained by Brittany Russell, Dazzling Dame went straight to the lead for jockey Jevian Toledo. Believable, the slight favorite at odds of 2.05-1, attended the 2.12-1 Dazzling Dame through the first half-mile. But after Dazzling Dame posted fractions of :23.55 and :47.20, Believable could not keep up.

Dazzling Dame spurted three lengths clear while reaching six furlongs in 1:12.75. The strapping daughter of Girvin extended her margin down the stretch and ultimately crossed the wire 11 1/2 lengths in front.

✨ DAZZLING DAME put on a big performance in the Busanda S. at Aqueduct!@btrracingstable trains the 3YO filly and @JevianToledo was in the saddle. pic.twitter.com/1TXrWJ2i1N

— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) January 3, 2026

Even more impressive than Dazzling Dame’s visual impression was her final time. The bay completed the one-turn mile in 1:38.30, faster than the 1:38.96 recorded by My World in the Jerome.

'To be honest, she always breaks forward,” Toledo said. “She likes to be right there. I was a little bit worried because no one held on, the entire day, on the lead. But she is a nice filly, she proved she belongs in these kinds of races. Everything worked out good. She broke good. She put me in a great spot, and when I asked her, I got a ton of horse under me.”

Dazzling Dame added 20 Oaks points to her resume. She now has a total of 22, with her first two points coming from her fourth-place effort in the Sept. 13 Pocahontas (G3) at Churchill Downs. That remains her only loss, and Russell believes that she simply didn’t ship well to Kentucky. Dazzling Dame had no problem raiding New York.

Two Bits was far and away best of the rest in the Busanda by 11 1/4 lengths, and her first stakes placing netted her 10 Oaks points. Believable faded to third, picking up six points to give her seven overall. Fourth-placer Midnite Ginny (four points) and the trailing Britain (two points) concluded the order of finish after the scratching of Shilling.

Dazzling Dame, who returned $6.24 as the second choice, sports a 4-for-5 mark with earnings of $240,525. Three of those wins came in stakes, including the Sorority S. at Monmouth Park and the Oct. 11 White Clay Creek S. at Delaware Park in her prior start.

Bred in Maryland by Maria M. Haire, Dazzling Dame went to her current connections for $45,000 as an OBS March two-year-old in training. She was produced by the multiple stakes-placed Awesome Dama, a mare by Corinthian.

Dazzling Dame’s pedigree features two crosses of Hall of Famer and influential sire A.P. Indy. Her sire, Girvin, is out of a mare by A.P. Indy’s son Malibu Moon. Corinthian is by another son of A.P. Indy, Pulpit. Interestingly, both Pulpit and Malibu Moon were bred along the same lines, being by A.P. Indy and out of top-class mares by Mr. Prospector.

Dazzling Dame has options as she advances on the Oaks trail. Russell indicated that the March 14 Virginia Oaks at Colonial Downs could be on the itinerary, while the April 4 Gazelle (G3) back at Aqueduct likewise remains a possibility.

The Busanda turned out to be the only Oaks scoring race on Saturday. The Santa Ynez S. was scheduled to take place later in the day at Santa Anita, until adverse weather prompted the cancellation of racing.