Wild Dude flies to Palos Verdes win over BC Sprint hero Secret Circle

Wild Dude flies to Palos Verdes win over BC Sprint hero
Secret Circle

Wild Dude graduated from his stakes bow in style (Benoit Photos) Wild Dude entered Sunday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Palos Verdes off a pair of nice allowance wins, but picked a tough spot to make his stakes debut as he was facing Breeders’ Cup Sprint conqueror Secret Circle and Metropolitan Handicap king Sahara Sky, just to name two. That didn’t stop the Wildcat Heir colt from speeding to a neck score under jockey Rafael Bejarano, though. Secret Circle and Moonshine Bay led the way down the backstretch in the speed-laden field, duking it out through quick splits of :21 4/5 and :44 1/5. Majestic Stride went with the pair out of the gate at first before his jockey, Edwin Maldonado, wrangled him into a semi-stalking spot just behind. Moonshine Bay poured it on entering the turn and briefly got his neck in front of Secret Circle, but his six-year-old rival battled back on the inside to be on even terms once again in the stretch. Meanwhile, Bejarano had given Wild Dude his cue back in fourth and the colt kicked into high gear. The bay quickened so fast that he nearly ran up on the heels of Moonshine Bay before Bejarano managed to angle him to the outside and into a clear path.

Wild Dude didn’t let the incident faze him, easily storming past Secret
Circle and Moonshine Bay to stop the clock in 1:08 for six furlongs on Santa
Anita’s fast main track. Sent off the 8-1 fourth pick in the five-horse field,
the Jerry Hollendorfer trainee returned $19.20 for the win to his backers.

“I knew with three
horses in the race for Mr. Hollendorfer, I knew Gary (Stevens) was going to send
on Moonshine Bay to put a little pressure on the favorite (Martin Garcia and
Secret Circle.) The favorite went to the lead easy, but he was tracking the
other horse (Moonshine Bay),” Bejarano explained.

“I saved ground around the turn and waited for the stretch.
I knew those two on the front end were going to keep going so I just wanted to
wait so I could be clear in the stretch. I just had to wait for the right
moment, the right time. My horse loves to come from behind so the only change
was I didn’t want to leave too much for him to do at the end so I kept him a
little closer today.”

“Our horse (Wild Dude) got lucky to get
out of the one (post), and that’s why we got the win,” Hollendorfer said. “I
just told (Bejarano) to be where he wanted to be comfortable. We knew the horse had some
tactical speed.

“Yes, it was a big step up for him, but he’s been doing
good and the race came up light, so we decided to go with three horses instead
of two.”

Secret Circle lost the war but won the battle over the Hollendorfer-conditioned Moonshine Bay, finishing a
length clear of that rival to take second as the 1-2 favorite. Majestic Stride,
who took up briefly in the lane when Wild Dude began his flying move, filled the
fourth spot just as he did in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

“(Secret Circle) was
down on the inside (after he passed Moonshine Bay in the stretch) and I don’t
think Martin (Garcia) ever saw the winner coming once he put that other horse away,”
commented Secret Circle’s trainer, Bob Baffert. “He
thought he had it won. He ran well off the layoff, he just got beat. He ran a
good race; I just don’t think he saw that other horse.”

“Gary (Stevens on Moonshine Bay) wouldn’t have gone
quite so hard if the horse didn’t break as good as he did, but he was right out
there. Secret Circle went for it. I thought Jeff Bonde’s horse (Majestic Stride)
would go for it, but maybe he came away a step slow and couldn’t get the lead,”
Hollendorfer remarked about Moonshine Bay.

Sahara Sky, also saddled by Hollendorfer, was making
his return to competition here after being off since capturing the Met Mile last
May at Belmont Park. The six-year-old posted a one-length win in the 2013
edition of this race, but wound up last of five in his return this time.

“I wish we had an
excuse. I was riding him, but we couldn’t make up any ground. He probably needed
a race,” stated Sahara Sky’s rider, Corey Nakatani.

Campaigned by Hollendorfer and Green Smith Jr., Wild Dude opened
his career in September 2012 with a second in a Del Mar maiden before finishing
fourth at Santa Anita a month later. The bay wouldn’t be seen again until last
August, when he finally broke through with a first win over Del Mar’s Polytrack.
An impressive 5 3/4-length scorer that day, Wild Dude placed in his next pair at
Santa Anita before rounding out his 2013 campaign with a half-length allowance
victory at Hollywood Park.

Wild Dude opened his four-year-old campaign with another allowance triumph,
this time at Santa Anita on January 3, and now boasts a 4-2-1 mark from eight
starts and $265,220 in lifetime earnings.

Bred in Florida by Versatile Thoroughbreds Inc., Wild Dude initially only
sold for $9,000 as a weanling at the 2010 OBS Fall Mixed Sale before bringing
$42,000 at the OBS Sprint Two-Year-Old in Training Sale. He is the first
registered foal out of the winning Doneraile Court mare Courtly Choice, who is a
half-sister to a pair of stakes-placed winners.

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