“Once you’re infected with the horse bug, the only known cure is bankruptcy,” said owner John Ropes, smiling at his Breeders Cup hopeful Dorth Vader.

"It's not an inexpensive sport but these are magnificent animals."

By Girvin, the George Weaver-trained Dorth Vader is out of Ropes' broodmare Hardcore Candy and will be bidding to justify her owner-breeder's support in Saturday's 1800m Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff.

"I've been very fortunate to have bred her, and her dam. The only horses that I race are ones that I have bred," continued Ropes.

"You can't sell them all: her conformation wasn't perfect and the trainer who had her, Gail Woods, said 'this is a racehorse, we need to go to the track with her'."

Sent into training, Dorth Vader finished sixth on debut at Gulfstream Park before quickly recording a maiden victory in late August 2022.

"She stumbled out of the gate the first time, won the second race, she went from six furlongs to a mile and a sixteenth in a Stakes race, but came in third."

Two further victories followed in the Juvenile Fillies Sprint Stakes and the Sandpiper Stakes, before suffering another defeat at Tampa Bay in the Gasparilla Stakes.

"From then on, she won every race until the race in Tampa, where conditions weren't right. It was a forty-degree temperature change, and her dam is very sensitive to heat and cold. In fact, when it's hot in the summer, we have the sprinklers on for her and she stays under the water.

"Her next race was the Grade 2 Davona Dale Stakes. We were 46/1 for some reason. That morning, I knew we were going to win. They didn't think much of her, but she won by four-and-three-quarter lengths."

During 2023, Dorth Vader continued to mix with the best fillies in America, finishing fifth in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks and second in the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes at Belmont Park. She missed nearly her entire four-year-old season, racing only once in 2024, before returning to the track in 2025 and achieving an elusive Grade 1 victory in the Ogden Phipps Stakes at Saratoga, a win-and-you're-in race for the Distaff.

In the Grade 1 Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga, Dorth Vader faced her toughest task against multiple Grade 1 winning champion racemare Thorpedo Anna. The pair raced stride for stride in the final stages, with Thorpedo Anna securing the win by a nose.

"She should have won the Personal Ensign, we passed Thorpedo Anna at the finish line. The photo showed a tiny amount, Thorpedo Anna won by a flared nostril. It was the toughest race she'd had.

The narrow defeat was taken positively.

With Thorpedo Anna retired after the Personal Ensign, it has left Dorth Vader as one of the leading candidates for the Breeders' Cup Distaff, a race won by champions like Zenyetta and Beholder.

"The Personal Ensign was her best number for the year.

"She's well set for the Distaff. I think she'll do very well."