Berkeley, Calif. (Sunday, May 19, 2019) Northern California trainer John Martin picked up a stakes victory at the winter/spring meet at Golden Gate Fields with Visitant in the $75,000 Alcatraz Stakes for 3-year-olds on Sunday. The race, originally scheduled for turf, was moved off the grass due to wet weather earlier in the week. 7 runners competed in the mile contest on Tapeta.
Visitant, last seen running second in the California Derby, stalked the pace before challenging the leaders in upper stretch and surging past One Bad Boy, who went off as the 4/5 favorite. Visitant won the race by a length and a quarter and was ridden to victory by local pilot William Antongeorgi III.
One Bad Boy, coming off a sharp maiden win at Santa Anita, dueled up front with third place finisher Kingly and took the lead in upper stretch, only to be collared in the final sixteenth of a mile by Visitant. 2019 Kentucky Derby winning jockey Flavien Prat rode the 3-year-old ridgling for Southern California trainer Richard Baltas.
Kingly, who won the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate last month for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, retained the services of Southern California jockey Mario Gutierrez. The royally bred sibling to Breeders Cup champion New Year’s Day and multiple Grade 2 winner Mohaymen set the pace with One Bad Boy before fading to third.
68-1 longshot Rey Coliman finished fourth, followed by The Creep, Loud Mouth and Nizamdcarchy. Visitant completed the one-mile in 1:36.73 and went off as the 5-1 third choice in the wagering.
Visitant earned his first stakes win with the Alcatraz victory. Visitant has now won 3 of 4 lifetime starts, with career earnings of $101,600. Williamson LLC owns and bred the son of Ghostzapper, who is out of the graded stakes placed mare Peppermint Lounge.
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