MISIRLOU FACES OLDER IN ALLOWANCE FEATURE ON THURSDAY
3-year-old filly Misirlou drew the outside post in Race 6 on Thursday afternoon, an allowance for filly and mare sprinters at five and one-half furlongs. Misirlou, trained by Steve Specht, has always been highly thought of.
“She’s always shown that she had ability,” said Specht. “The only time she ran poorly was two starts ago when she broke through the gate before the race. Normally, horses don’t fare too well right after they do that. In every other race she’s run, she’s been right there.”
Indeed. Misirlou sports a consistent record of 4 wins, 1 second and 1 third place finish from 7 lifetime starts. Misirlou will be ridden by her regular jockey, Frank Alvarado, who was aboard last time out when the California-bred daughter of Slew’s Tiznow won a second level allowance while earning a strong 87 Beyer speed figure.
The morning line favorite in Race 6, multiple stakes winner Mother of Dragons, drew the inside post in the field of six. She is likely to scratch, however, reducing the field to a quintette. Misirlou, with the aforementioned scratch in mind, will likely inherit favoritism come post time.
“She has tactical speed,” said Specht. “I’m expecting her to stalk the pace again. She likes this track. She’ll be tough if she can run back to her last race.”
Morning Cynn has shown an affinity for the Golden Gate Tapeta main track and will likely get bet, as will recent first level allowance winner Myangelcindy. Gotham Desire and Tip Top Gal, both allowance winners themselves, round out the group.
3-YEAR-OLD ALLOWANCE SPRINT ONE OF 10 RACES ON STRONG FRIDAY CARD
A great week of racing is expected at Golden Gate, with large field sizes and quality filled races spread throughout the week. This is certainly the theme on Friday. The marquee event on the program, a 6-furlong allowance for 3-year-olds on Tapeta, drew a field of 9 and goes as Race 6 on a 10-race program.
The morning line favorite, 3-1 shot Prince de Prince, was last seen finishing a nose behind stakes placed No Longer Silent at this condition on August 20. According to trainer Jack Steiner, the California-bred by Fullbridled comes into this race with better form than ever before.
“There was a point in the spring where he dropped off a little bit,” said Steiner. “We thought maybe he wasn’t quite good enough to win an allowance race. We put him in for a $25,000 tag at Pleasanton, and, even though he didn’t win, he ran a lot better than he had in recent starts. I think that race really instilled confidence in him. Sometimes, all horses need is a confidence booster to get them back into better form. Since then, he’s been running really well at allowance conditions. He hasn’t won but he’s gotten close. Hopefully Friday is the day he breaks through.”
Let’s Rejoyce, a Tommy Town Thoroughbreds homebred, is the 7-2 morning line second choice. He was last seen finishing off the board in the Real Good Deal Stakes at Del Mar and returns to Northern California, where he scored both career victories against maidens and allowance company, respectively.
“He’s doing just fine,” said trainer Jonathan Wong. “The class relief [out of stakes company] should help him. He is versatile. He might be at his best if he’s able to make the front, but he doesn’t need the lead. He has natural speed and, if he breaks well, will put himself in the race early.”
Little Cents, from the Bill McLean barn, also merits respect. The Kentucky bred son of Goldencents makes his 3-year-old debut after taking time off for the first part of 2020. He had a respectable campaign last year as a 2-year-old, winning an allowance race and finishing second, beaten by less than a quarter of a length, in two other races at the aforementioned allowance level.
“He broke his maiden at Del Mar for a tag and tried hard for us all fall,” said McLean. “At the end of the year, we wanted to give him a little rest.”
“He makes his first start as a gelding on Friday,” noted McLean. “He hasn’t really acted any different but his workouts leading up to this race have been good. Sometimes horses get better from 2 to 3 as they mature mentally and physically, so we’re hoping to see that. He’s a nice horse.'”
Foothill, a Southern California invader who broke his maiden on turf at Del Mar in July for trainer Sean McCarthy, possesses appeal, as does Slam Dunk Sermon, who ran fourth against older Golden Gate allowance foes and drops to this restricted 3-year-old race.
“Slam Dunk Sermon always tries hard,” said the latter gelding’s trainer, Steve Specht. “He’s not too flashy but goes out there and does the best he can every time.”
Eustace ships North after a better than looked runner up finish against a salty group of high-level claimers at Del Mar for trainer Ed Moger Jr.,who also saddles recent maiden special weight winner Hawk Hill. Eustace, who broke his maiden at Golden Gate, will get more play, at 9-2 on the morning line. Hawk Hill is listed at 12-1. Exclusive Speaker and Wine and Whisky complete the field of 9.
87 horses are entered on the Friday program, averaging out to 8.7 horses per race. A maiden special weight on turf for 3-year-old fillies, Race 7, kicks off the Late Pick 4 sequence, while a first level allowance for filly and mare sprinters goes as the 8th on the card.
Saturday’s card, with 11 races, drew 94 runners. A pair of maiden turf sprints-with full fields-catches the eye on the Saturday overnight. A first level allowance, Race 7, begins the well backed Late Pick 5 wager, and 4 of the 11 races will be run on projected firm turf.
10 or 11 more races will be run on Sunday, with entries to be taken, drawn and released on Thursday.
FINISH LINES: 2020 El Camino Real Derby winner Azul Coast is listed as “probable” for the mile and a half, $100,000 Tokyo City Cup at Santa Anita on Sunday, September 27…Multiple stakes winner Bettor Trip Nick is back on the worktab for trainer Bill Delia after taking a brief vacation this summer. The California-bred gelding worked 3 furlongs on Tuesday morning in 37.60 seconds…Multiple Golden Gate winner and stakes placed ridgling Daddysprize has been retired, per trainer Tim McCanna, and will become a stallion in Washington State. “He’s happy,” said McCanna. “I’m going to breed him to a few of my mares to get him started.” Daddysprize, by Scat Daddy, is out of the stakes winning mare YoutheprizeandI...Race 3 on Friday is Leg E (the last leg) of the Stronach 5 wager…$88,169 is your carryover amount for the Golden Pick Six jackpot wager on Thursday while the Rolling Super High Five has a carryover of $2,075…Congratulations to jockey Kyle Frey and his partner Miya on the birth of their daughter Skylar Sakura Lee Frey last Friday morning. Frey leads all jockeys at the current summer meet with 22 wins, 9 more than seven-pound apprentice Santos Rivera.