Game on Dude faces eight in Awesome Again; Include Me Out
tops Zenyatta
Game on Dude, a leading contender for Horse of the Year, heads a field of
nine in Saturday’s $250,000
Awesome
Again Stakes at Santa Anita. The 1 1/8-mile event is one of five Grade 1
stakes on a dynamite program that serves as a precursor to the Breeders’ Cup at
Santa Anita on November 2-3.
All five stakes have been renamed this year. Game on Dude, a son of Awesome
Again, posted a half-length score in the race formerly known as the Goodwood 12
months ago, and the Bob Baffert-trained gelding will bring a perfect
four-for-four mark at the Arcadia, California, track into Saturday’s title
defense, including a victory in last year’s Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap. He
posted convincing wins in the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup, Grade 2 San Antonio
and Grade 2 Californian earlier this season, and exits a respectable runner-up
in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic over a Del Mar Polytrack that probably isn’t his
best surface.
Game on Dude, who could easily go favored in the Breeders’ Cup Classic off a
win Saturday, will receive a switch from Chantal Sutherland to Rafael Bejarano,
Baffert’s go-to jockey and arguably the leading rider in the Southern California
jockey colony, and the classy five-year-old will break from the rail.
Richard’s Kid, a multiple Grade 1-winning earner of more than $2 million,
will look to turn the tables after finishing one spot back of Game on Dude in
both the Hollywood Gold Cup and Pacific Classic. The seven-year-old horse made
his first start for a new barn after being sold only a few days before his
third-place outing in the Pacific Classic, and he experienced a
less-than-favorable inside trip after stumbling at the start. Leandro Mora was
subbing for Doug O’Neill last time, but O’Neill’s suspension ended Friday and
Richard’s Kid’s connections are looking for an improved showing this time
around. Garrett Gomez will take over the reins.
Rail Trip will look to make an impact following a fourth in the Pacific
Classic. A Grade 1 winner in 2009, the gelding dropped eight straight starts
before capturing the Grade 2 San Diego two back. Jose Valdivia Jr. rides for
trainer Ron Ellis. Nonios will make his first start against elders in the
Awesome Again. Winner of the Grade 3 Affirmed this summer in his stakes bow, the
Jerry Hollendorfer-trained sophomore finished second in both the Grade 2 Swaps
and Grade 1 Haskell Invitational before a disappointing fifth in the Grade 1
Travers most recently. Martin Pedroza, who was up for both the Affirmed and
Swaps, will re-take the mount.
Include Me Out, the leading distaffer in California this year, tops a field
of nine fillies and mares in the $250,000
Zenyatta
Stakes (formerly the Lady’s Secret) at 1 1/16 miles. The John Sadler-trained
filly is four-for-five in 2012, compiling wins in the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch,
Grade 1 Santa Margarita, Grade 2 Marjorie Everett and Grade 2 La Canada, and her
lone setback was a runner-up in the Grade 1 Vanity two starts back. The
four-year-old will look to enhance her championship credentials with a returning
Joe Talamo.
Chilean star Amani finished third to Include Me Out when making her U.S.
debut in the Hirsch two starts back and exits a sixth against males in the
Pacific Classic. The Neil Drysdale trainee figures to appreciate the return to
female competition and gets a new rider in Bejarano. Love and Pride invades for
Todd Pletcher off an upset score in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign at Saratoga,
defeating champion Royal Delta and multiple Grade 1 queen It’s Tricky in
wire-to-wire fashion. Martin Garcia will guide the speedy four-year-old.
Love Theway Youare upset Include Me Out at 18-1 in the Vanity, snapping an
11-race losing streak in the process, and has been freshened off a well-beaten
fifth against males in the Hollywood Gold Cup. Hirsch runner-up Star Billing and
Grade 2-winning sophomore Joyful Victory are also entered.
The $250,000
Rodeo
Drive (formerly the Yellow Ribbon) will feature a near-capacity field of 13
females at 1 1/4 miles on turf, and Marketing Mix is the likely favorite in her
first California appearance. Conditioned by Tom Proctor, the four-year-old
daughter of Medaglia d’Oro reeled off consecutive Grade 2 wins prior to her
fast-finishing second, beaten only a head, in the Grade 1 Beverly D. Stakes at
Arlington Park on August 18. She will be re-united with Garrett Gomez, who
piloted her runner-up finish in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup
last fall.
Other contenders include City to City, winner of the Grade 2 John C. Mabee
two starts back; Grade 1 vixens Cambina and Nereid; and Let’s Go Cheyenne, who
exits a 5 3/4-length romp in her stakes debut.
Two-year-olds will be featured in the $250,000
Frontrunner (formerly the Norfolk) and $250,000
Chandelier
(formerly the Oak Leaf) for fillies, both 1 1/16-mile events.
In the Frontrunner, Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity runner-up Know More will face 10
challengers. The O’Neill charge captured the Grade 2 Best Pal Stakes at first
asking but left himself too much to do in the Futurity last time, rallying past
rivals late to finish 1 1/4 lengths back of Rolling Fog, who was subsequently
sidelined for the rest of the year. Know More will keep Gomez in the saddle and
the Lion Heart colt breaks from post 7.
Capo Bastone captured his career bow, winning an August 4 maiden special
weight at Del Mar, before recording a fourth as the second choice in the
Futurity. Victor Espinoza rides for Sadler. Baffert will be represented by three
contestants: Carving exits a win in the C.B. Afflerbaugh Stakes at Fairplex for
the Hall of Famer; Power Broker will go turf to dirt following a neck second in
the Oak Tree Juvenile Turf Stakes; and Den’s Legacy enters off a maiden tally at
Del Mar. Oak Tree Juvenile Turf winner Dry Summer and Futurity sixth-place
finisher Gabriel Charles are also entered.
The Chandelier features a probable heavy favorite in the unbeaten
Executiveprivilege, a three-time stakes winner so far for Baffert. After
defeating maiden special weight rivals in late June, the First Samurai filly
proceeded to capture the Landaluce Stakes, Grade 3 Sorrento and Grade 1 Del Mar
Debutante. Executiveprivilege can establish herself as the one to beat in the
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies with an impressive victory Saturday.
Beholder, a 3 1/2-length maiden winner two starts back, missed by only a nose
when second in the Del Mar Debutante and must be respected for trainer Richard
Mandella. Salamera ships from the East Coast following a second in the Grade 2
Adirondack at Saratoga, and Scarlet Strike steps to face stakes rivals off a
good-looking maiden score at Del Mar.
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