Game On Dude returns to form with unprecedented third Big ‘Cap triumph

Game On Dude returns to form with unprecedented third Big
‘Cap triumph

Game On Dude delivered a powerful performance against a strong field of rivals (Cecilia Gustavson/Horsephotos.com) After recording three consecutive losses, Game On Dude silenced any speculation that he was past his prime with a front-running tour de force in Saturday’s Grade 1, $750,750 Santa Anita Handicap. The seven-year-old became the first three-time winner in the centerpiece event of the Santa Anita winter/spring meet. After previously capturing the 2011 and 2013 editions, Game On Dude surpassed two-time Big ‘Cap winners John Henry, Lava Man and Milwaukee Brew with the 1 3/4-length score. And the Bob Baffert-trained gelding established a new stakes record when completing 1 1/4 miles in 1:58.17, eclipsing the previous mark of 1:58 3/5 set by Triple Crown winner Affirmed in 1979. “I knew he was going to run today,” jockey Mike Smith said. “I knew it from the post parade when we turned around to go to the gate. He was on his toes today, he was on fire. He’s like that when he runs well. “He ran big; I just had that feeling that he was going to. Down the backside he was happy, he was cruisin’, he was well within himself. He was throwing numbers, I knew we were going fast; I actually went even faster this time than I did last time (when he weakened to fifth in the February 8 San Antonio).”

Game On Dude left the starting gate as the 7-2 third choice, snapping a
string of 15 straight U.S. starts where he went favored. The betting public
hammered down Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Mucho Macho Man as the 6-5 choice and
champion three-year-old Will Take Charge, the nose runner-up in the Classic,
received plenty of support as the 3-2 second favorite.

Speed ruled the day as Game On Dude advanced from post 7 to challenge for the
lead. After dueling with Hear the Ghost through an opening quarter-mile in :22
4/5, Game On Dude kicked clear on the backstretch to open a 2 1/2-length
advantage through a half-mile in :45 1/5. His rivals attempted to close the gap
on the far turn, but Game On Dude was still clear by a length after six furlongs
in 1:09 1/5.

Mucho Macho Man started to retreat by the top of the stretch, but Will Take
Charge was still trying hard in second as the pacesetter led into the
straightaway. Game On Dude passed the mile mark in 1:32 2/5 with a 1 1/2-length
lead and proved strong all the way to the finish line, comfortably holding his
rival safe the entire way.

“They went fast but he was rockin’, he was rollin’. The Dude showed up,”
Baffert said. “Last time (the San Antonio), he wasn’t ready…He had to do it
today. I just told Mike Smith, ‘When they expect you to be on the lead, you have
to be on the lead. Just let him rip, do his thing and if it happens, it
happens.'”

“I knew he was going to have to run today because they came at me,” Smith
added. “But when they came at me he dropped to the ground. When he needs to, he
fires.

“I knew they would have to be better than him today to beat him. Like I’ve
said before, when he shows up he can run with anybody in the world. We may throw
in a dud every now and then but he makes up for it!”

It was an eight-length gap from Will Take Charge to Blingo, who edged Mucho
Macho Man for third in deep stretch. Hear the Ghost wound up fifth and was
followed by Rousing Sermon, Imperative and American Blend.

“He ran so hard,” jockey Luis Saez said of runner-up Will Take Charge. “He’s
very good and was in good position all the way. At the half-mile pole, I saw
Game On Dude going so comfortably. My horse still ran good. It’s OK.”

“It’s going to take us some time to figure it out (what happened),” trainer
Kathy Ritvo said of Mucho Macho Man’s disappointing effort. “I’m going to watch
it again.”

Game On Dude paid $9.60 to win.

Now a 14-time stakes hero, the son of Awesome Again has earned a whopping
$6,163,893 from a 31-16-6-1 record.

Baffert was asked about Game On Dude becoming the first-time three-time
winner of the Big ‘Cap:

“To me, it’s an emotional win for the horse,” the Hall of Fame trainer said.
“It kills me when they knock on him, but we came in here quiet and that’s the
way I like to come in. We came in under the radar and we were ready for them.”

Game On Dude is owned by Diamond Pride LLC, the nom de course for former New
York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre; the Lanni Family Trust
of the late J. Terrence Lanni; the Mercedes Stable of Ernest Moody and Maria
Mercedes Villa; and Bernie Schiappa.

After garnering his first stakes victory in the 2010 Lone Star Derby, the
dark bay recorded a close fourth in the Belmont Stakes, the final start of his
sophomore campaign. Game On Dude posted his major win the following spring in
the Santa Anita Handicap and went on to capture the Grade 1 Goodwood that fall
before a runner-up finish to Drosselmeyer in the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Classic at
Churchill Downs.

In 2012, Game On Dude posted five graded stakes tallies. He skipped the Santa
Anita Handicap in favor of the Dubai World Cup, where he never challenged over
the synthetic Tapeta track, and he sustained his second setback of the season
with a subpar seventh as the 6-5 favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Game on Dude won his first seven starts in 2013, including a sweep of the
three premiere events for older horses in Southern California. In typical
front-running fashion, he captured the Big ‘Cap by 7 3/4 lengths, the Hollywood
Gold Cup by a length and the Pacific Classic by 8 1/2 lengths. But nothing went
right for him again in the Breeders’ Cup Classic as he weakened to ninth as the
8-5 choice.

Baffert sent him to the Grade 1 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs after the
Breeders’ Cup last November and Game On Dude just missed, finishing a head
second to Will Take Charge. But he opened 2014 with an uncharacteristic effort
as the 1-5 favorite in the Grade 2 San Antonio, which led some to question
whether the classy veteran still had it.

“Bob told me to trust him, that I would have a different horse this time,”
Smith said. “He didn’t think he had him exactly where he wanted him for the San
Antonio. Bob told me not to be down, that he didn’t have him ready. He had him
110 percent today and when it comes to Bob, that’s who you want to be riding for
on big days.”

Bred in Kentucky by Adena Springs, Game On Dude was a $210,000 Keeneland
September RNA as a yearling in 2008. He is out of the stakes-winning Devil His
Due mare Worldly Pleasure.

Santa Anita drew an excellent crowd of 27,121 for the 77th running of the Big ‘Cap.

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