ROBERT DUPRET DERBY SHOWCASES TOP BAY AREA 3-YEAR-OLDS ON SATURDAY
A field of eight 3-year-olds compete at one mile on turf in Saturday’s feature race, the $50,000 Robert Dupret Stakes. Three of the eight entrants exit a July 3 allowance race on dirt at Pleasanton: Looking for Revenge, Sacred Rider, and American Farmer.
Lookin for Revenge went gate to wire on July 3 and earned an 81 Beyer speed figure for his effort. The son of I Want Revenge has been effective over all three North American racing surfaces (dirt, turf and synthetic) and broke his maiden by 7 lengths on Tapeta, which was his last start at Golden Gate.
“He’s improved every race,” said trainer Brendan Galvin. “He’s a big, long striding horse. When he gets in a good rhythm and can just keep going…that’s when he is at his best. He doesn’t necessarily need the lead-he-he can sit a length or so off and it won’t be a problem-but if he’s not on the lead he won’t be too far away.”
Sacred Rider, a well-bred gelding trained by Steve Specht, finished second at odds of 3-5 in the July 3 allowance affair. He has the most experience in the field, with 15 starts to his name, and is out of the stakes winner and top-quality broodmare Lady Railrider. Both career victories for Sacred Rider have come on grass, but Specht noted that Sacred Rider is game on any surface.
“He can run on anything,” said Specht. “He only lost by a neck in a dirt stake at Santa Anita in January. He’s run a couple of good races on synthetic. I’ve run him back a little quickly a couple of times and he’s got good spacing between races heading into this weekend. He always tries hard.”
2020 El Camino Real Derby runner up American Farmer made his first start off a 4-month layoff in the aforementioned July 3 allowance at Pleasanton. He sports a pair of bullet workouts leading up to this race for trainer Steve Sherman, who employs leading jockey Kyle Frey for the ride.
“He’s doing really well,” said Sherman. “His last couple of works have been great. He’ll be sitting off the pace and making one run. That’s what he likes to do. Kyle [Frey] will have to time the ride right because you can’t move him too early.”
Governance most recently ran fourth in the June 13 Alcatraz Stakes at Golden Gate, finishing behind Kanderel and Ajourneytofreedom that day. Both aforementioned equines have since come back to finish in-the-money in the Oceanside Stakes at Del Mar and compete this Sunday in the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap. Governance defeated Sacred Rider by a neck in an allowance race on May 30 and is trained by top Golden Gate conditioner Jonathan Wong.
“The race came up tough,” said Wong. “The last time he won, he went wire to wire. It appears there’s a good amount of speed in the race so we may find ourselves sitting off the pace this time. He is pretty versatile.”
Too Late is the only Southern California shipper in the field, racing for trainer Doug O’Neill and owner Paul Reddam. The California-bred son of Square Eddie was last seen sprinting five furlongs on turf in a California-bred allowance race at Del Mar, finishing third against older foes. The only time this guy has ever competed at a distance farther than six furlongs, he finished six lengths behind Governance in a maiden special weight at Santa Anita.
Allowance placed colt Awesome Summer, first-time router Returray and 10 length starter allowance winner Jedi Knight complete the field. Post time for the Robert Dupret Derby, which goes as Race 8 on an 11-race card, is set for 4:55 PM.
Race 8 on Saturday: the $50,000 Robert Dupret Derby
(Post time: 4:55 P.M. Pacific Time)
#1 American Farmer (Kyle Frey, Steve Sherman, 6-1 morning line)
#2 Too Late (Alejandro Gomez, Doug O’Neill, 9-2)
#3 Lookin for Revenge (David C. Lopez, Brendan Galvin, 4-1)
#4 Awesome Summer (Kevin Orozco, Bob Hess Sr., 5-1)
#5 Sacred Rider (Frank Alvarado, Steve Specht, 3-1)
#6 Jedi Knight (Catalino Martinez, Andreas Psarras, 20-1)
#7 Governance (William Antongeorgi III, Jonathan Wong, 7-2)
#8 Returray (Daniel Vergara, Andy Mathis, 15-1)
WRIGHT CONTINUES A BUSY SUMMERTIME SCHEDULE
Trainer Blaine Wright is always a very busy man in the summertime. This year, he has a string of horses at Golden Gate, Del Mar and Emerald Downs in Auburn, Washington. Wright conditions horses at all talent levels, ranging from claimers to stakes caliber equines that compete at the highest stages. Below, we give a handful of updates on Wright’s top-quality stock.
One of Wright’s best horses in training, 2019 Breeders Cup Juvenile runner up Anneau D’Or, most recently finished fourth in the Grade I Santa Anita Derby and makes his next start this Sunday in the $200,000 Runhappy Ellis Park Derby at Ellis Park in Henderson, Kentucky. The son of Medaglia D’Oro drew post position 2 and picks up the services of jockey Tyler Baze for the first time.
“He’s safe and sound in Kentucky,” said Wright. “We originally entered in the Los Alamitos Derby on July 4 and were hoping to run him there. He came up with an elevated temperature before the race and we had to scratch. We rerouted him to the Ellis Park Derby and he’s healthy now.”
The Runhappy Ellis Park Derby offers 85 qualifying points, with 50 of those points awarded to the winner. Heading into this weekend, Anneau D’Or sits 18th on the Kentucky Derby points list with 32 points.
“He is still on the [Kentucky] Derby trail,” said Wright. “We’ll see how he runs on Sunday and go from there. He shipped to Kentucky earlier this week and got there in really good shape.”
Racing fans will be happy to read that Wright’s 2019 stable star, Anothertwistafate, is back on the worktab. The 2019 El Camino Real Derby winner hasn’t been seen since competing in last year’s Preakness Stakes and is currently training at Golden Gate for his 2020 debut. Since rejoining Team Wright in the spring, the son of Scat Daddy has worked seven times over the main track Tapeta, with a pair of five-furlong drills most recently recorded.
“He’s doing super,” said Wright. “We haven’t picked out a comeback race for him yet. We’re putting stamina-type works into him. I want to give him a solid foundation before he is entered in a race. In his works, it’s important that he finishes well and gallops out strong. He’s a pure route horse and he’ll be running against really nice horses this year. I want to have him as fit as possible by the time he hits the track in the afternoon.”
Ajourneytofreedom, the younger half-sibling to Anothertwistate, ran third in the Oceanside Stakes on Opening Day at Del Mar and gets back to turf in the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap on Sunday. The last time Ajourneytofreedom raced at Golden Gate, he lost by a neck to the Richard Mandella trained Kanderel in the Alcatraz Stakes. Ajourneytofreedom breaks from post 4 in the La Jolla and will be ridden by regular pilot Ricky Gonzalez.
“He’s a hard-trying little dude,” said Wright. “He reminds me of [million-dollar earner] Alert Bay. He’s not a big horse but he’s shown us a nice turn on foot on grass and gives it his all every time. He had a little bit of traffic trouble in upper stretch in the Oceanside but was able to get out quickly and showed a good kick to the wire. The waters are a little deeper [in the La Jolla] but he’s doing well.”
Wright also campaigns Baja Sur, who finished third in a salty July 26 allowance optional $100,000 claimer at Del Mar. The aforementioned race drew a stakes caliber field. In fact, Baja Sur beat 2019 San Francisco Mile winner Blitzkrieg for third. Wright indicated Baja Sur, who ran second in the June 6 Albany Stakes at Golden Gate, would run next in the five-furlong $100,000 Grade 3 Green Flash Handicap for turf sprinters on August 22 at Del Mar.
2019 Lost in the Fog Stakes winner Anyportinastorm finished off the board in last weekend’s Grade I Bing Crosby at Del Mar after dueling on the lead with four other rivals, all whom also weakened down the stretch. Wright noted that Anyportinastorm came out of the race with a clean bill of health and will train on before a decision is made on where he will make his next start.
LOPEZ, VERGARA JOIN GOLDEN GATE JOCKEY COLONY
Jockeys Erick Lopez and Daniel Vergara joined the Golden Gate Fields jockey colony last weekend, adding to a solid list of riders who compete daily at Golden Gate.
Lopez, who ships in from Parx Racing in Pennsylvania, hails from a riding family. He is the older brother of David C. Lopez and the son of veteran C.C. Lopez. The New Jersey native was the regular jockey for Baja Sur when riding at Emerald Downs in 2017 and has competed against some of the top riders in the country at Monmouth Park and Aqueduct. Lopez has been working horses since last weekend and is represented by Fernando “Shoes” Navarro.
Vergara, who won last Sunday’s sixth race with Random Pleasure, is a regular at Turf Paradise in Arizona. Beginning his career in 1998, Vergara has gained steady business throughout the years, and is eight victories shy of 1,400 career wins. Earlier in the summer, Vergara rode at Lone Star Park, but opted to move his tack to Golden Gate after heavy consideration. He makes his Northern California stakes debut aboard Returray in the Robert Dupret Derby this Saturday for trainer Andy Mathis. Vergara is represented by Jay Robinson.
DEL MAR WATCH LIST
Friday
Race 1: Shadrack (Trainer Tim McCanna, Jockey Abel Cedillo)
Race 4: Crown Kitten (Bill McLean, Evin Roman)
Race 4: Sweet Rafaela (Rene Amescua, Ricky Gonzalez)
Race 5: Honeymoonz Over (D. Wayne Baker, Eswan Flores)
Saturday
Race 5: Mylittlerunaway (O.J. Jauregui, Tiago Pereira)
Race 8: Ben’s A Goalie (Quinn Howey, Geovanni Franco)
Race 8: Charge Cash (Tim McCanna, Evin Roman)
Sunday
Race 4: Big Moon (Steve Sherman, Abel Cedillo)
Race 5: No Name Fred (Jonathan Wong, Ricky Gonzalez)
Race 5: King Eddie (Bill McLean, Evin Roman)
Race 6: Kaline (Quinn Howey, Geovanni Franco)
Race 10: Ajourneytofreedom (Blaine Wright, Ricky Gonzalez)
Race 10: Indian Peak (Quinn Howey, Mike Smith)
Race 11: Bigfoot City (Tim McCanna, Ricky Gonzalez)
FINISH LINES: Trainer Jonathan Wong campaigns Keeper Ofthe Stars in Del Mar’s Saturday co-feature: the $150,000 Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Handicap at one mile and a sixteenth on the turf. Abel Cedillo rides for owner Tommy Town Thoroughbreds…Two Arabian-bred races kicked off the Saturday and Sunday programs at Golden Gate Fields last week. On Saturday, Aura Makarina picked up a victory in Race 1 for trainer Abel Borg while Prestons Lady AA won the opener on Sunday under the care of trainer Ron White…Arabian-bred action concludes this Sunday with the $15,000 California Bonus Bonanza for 3-year-olds and upward sprint six furlongs on Tapeta…Golden Gate Fields offers a $1 Pick 6 carryover of $16,375. This is not a jackpot carryover…MANDATORY PAYOUTS take place on Sunday afternoon…Next Thursday is Day 1 of the traditional summer meet at Golden Gate.