IN OUR A CONTINUES TO PAINT A CONSISTANT PICTURE HEADING INTO EL DORADO SHOOTER STAKES
5-year-old gelding In Our A has yet to finish worse than second in nine lifetime starts. Most recently, the California-bred gelding defeated second-level allowance foes in a September 3 six-furlongs sprint. This Sunday, In Our A tackles stakes company for the first time in the feature race of the day, the $75,000 El Dorado Shooter for California-bred or sired sprinters. Trainer Ellen Jackson is optimistic he will give his best effort just like he always does.
“He loves to train and he loves his job,” said Jackson. “He just loves to run. He’s a kind horse to ride. You can put him up on the pace or take him back and ask him to run on. He’ll do whatever you ask him to do.”
Jackson has been patient with In Our A. He did not race at two and, after winning his first career start at astronomical odds of 68-1, was given 21 months off. He also took time off from March to August of this year.
“He’s had some issues along the way,” said Jackson. “I will never run a horse that’s not right. I’m patient with the horses and make sure they’re 100% before we run. He’s doing really well right now.”
Jackson, who owns and operates Victory Rose Thoroughbreds in Vacaville, will send horses to her farm to recuperate from any physical issues. Even if a horse needs a mental break, says Jackson, the farm is a good place for horses to recharge their batteries.
“I’ve found that even sending horses to the farm for a week or two…they really enjoy it,” says Jackson. “You let them go out to pasture, eat some grass and enjoy running around and grazing. It really helps their mind.”
Owned by Jackson and Kim and Kevin Nish of KMN Racing, In Our A certainly possesses the pedigree to be a successful racehorse. He is by Grade I winner Idiot Proof and out of the mare Onefunsonofagun, making him a full sibling to 3-time stake winner and 392k earner Bulletproof One. His other two siblings who have raced are 261k and 132k earners, respectively, and have won fourteen races between them.
“It’s really amazing,” said Jackson. “Onefunsonofagun gives everything to her foals.”
Among the list of challengers to take on In Our A this Sunday are the top two finishers of a second level allowance race on September 25, Top Harbor and War Games. The latter gelding beat In Our A in a race on August 1 while In Our A turned the tables in their next matchup two weeks later.
“[In Our A] beat us once but we beat him once,” said War Games’ trainer, Cliff DeLima. “I think it’s about who gets the best trip. This is a good field but [War Games] is a good horse. He is not a very big horse, but he fights. He’s fast. He’ll be up on the pace.”
DeLima would surely be honored to win Sunday’s feature race. He trained El Dorado Shooter, who won 12 races from 33 starts including the Grade 3 Bay Meadows Handicap in 2003. El Dorado Shooter was owned by Cliff’s wife Barbara, who also owns War Games.
Top Harbor caught War Games in the final sixteenth of a mile two starts ago and earned a career high Beyer speed figure (91) in the process. He returned two weeks later in the Harris Farm Stakes at Fresno and finished as the runner up behind Southern California shipper Fashionably Fast.
Harris Farm Stakes bronze medalist Jamming Eddy and R M C Hookem round out the field of entrants in the 2021 El Dorado Shooter.
First post on Sunday afternoon is 12:10 PM. 97 entrants comprise the 11-race program, with above average field sizes and quality races from beginning to end.
Race 7 on Sunday: the $75,000 El Dorado Shooter (Six furlongs)
#1 Top Harbor (Jockey Frank Alvarado…Trainer Tim McCanna)
#2 Jamming Eddy (Catalino Martinez…Quinn Howey)
#3 R M C Hook’em (Brayan Pena…Victor Trujillo)
#4 In Our A (Cristobal Herrera…Ellen Jackson)
#5 War Games (Francisco Duran…Cliff DeLima)
MOGER READIES STILLETO BOY FOR BREEDERS CUP CLASSIC
Golden Gate based trainer Ed Moger Jr. will saddle a contender in North America’s richest horse race, the $6,000,000 Breeders Cup Classic, on Saturday, November 5. Moger campaigns Stilleto Boy, a 3-year-old son of Shackleford that will contest the one-mile and a quarter distance for the first time.
Stilleto Boy earned a spot in the ‘Classic starting gate after running second to Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit in the Grade I Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita on October 2. He placed ahead of San Diego Handicap winner Express Train and Pacific Classic winner Tripoli, both who are also slated to compete in the Breeders Cup Classic.
In the first half of 2021, Stilleto Boy raced in the Midwest under the care of trainer Doug Anderson. He broke his maiden at Oaklawn Park and later won the Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows. After the Iowa Derby victory, Stilleto Boy was purchased for $430,000 by Ed’s brother, owner Steve Moger, at the Fasig-Tipton Horses of Racing Age sale in July. Since the acquisition, Stilleto Boy has run twice on dirt for Moger-the second-place effort in the Awesome Again and a third in the Shared Belief Stakes behind Medina Spirit and 2021 Santa Anita Derby winner Rock Your World. His only off-the-board finish for Moger came in the La Jolla Handicap on turf, three weeks after the purchase.
“We ran him back [in the La Jolla] and he just wasn’t at his best,” said Moger. “He’s actually doing quite better than when we first got him. We took blinkers off to get him to relax and he’s done better without them.”
On Thursday, September 21, Stilleto Boy breezed five furlongs in 1:02.20 seconds under jockey Kent Desormeaux, who was aboard in the Awesome Again and rides back in the Breeders Cup Classic.
“[Kent] said he could have gone around three more times at that speed,” said Moger. “He loves the horse. He’s got tactical speed. I hope they go fast up front [in the Classic] and he comes running.
This past Wednesday, Stilleto Boy posted his final move before the Classic, this time working five furlongs in a speedy 59.80 seconds. It was the fastest work of the fifteen recorded at the distance that morning.
Along with the Breeders Cup races, a handful of Golden Gate shippers will compete in “undercard” stakes races before the Breeders Cup events.
In the $175,000 Golden State Juvenile Fillies for 2-year-old California bred or sired fillies, Moger runs two-turn GGF maiden special weight winner Vronsky Feint. He’s also scheduled to enter Love Candy in the $175,000 Golden State Juvenile for 2-year-old California-bred or sired colts and geldings. Both races are contested at seven furlongs.
“It’s not necessarily easy for 2-year-olds to go seven furlongs,” said Moger. “The distance won’t be a problem for Vronsky Feint. She just won at a mile. Love Candy is a real steady horse. I think he’ll like the seven furlongs.”
Leading Golden Gate trainer Jonathan Wong noted that GGF maiden special weight winner Boise will stretch out to a route of ground in next Friday’s $150,000 Qatar Golden Mile Stakes at one mile on turf.
“He’s always shown us that he can really run,” said Wong. “He’s always trained good on the dirt, actually. I think he can stretch out. [Jockey] Armando [Ayuso] got him to relax [in his first start] and he finished really well. He was really professional.”
The Qatar Golden Mile attracted a long list of 29 nominations. If the race overfills and Boise fails to draw into the field, Wong has a backup plan.
“If he doesn’t get in [to the Qatar Golden Mile], we’ll likely keep him at Golden Gate and run in the [6-furlong] Golden Nugget Stakes [on November 13],” said Wong.
The Breeders Cup, held at Del Mar this year, is a two-day event. Day 1 is next Friday, November 3, with first post on a 10-race program at 11:55 AM PT. First post for Day 2 on Saturday, November 4, is 10:15 AM PT. Saturday’s card will have 12 races.
On Saturday, November 4, Golden Gate Fields hosts a “Breeders Cup Watch Party” in the fourth-floor turf club. Fans who wish to attend this event can purchase tickets online at Goldengatefields.com. Along with watching and wagering on all 12 Saturday races from Del Mar, a continental breakfast and “all you can eat” buffet will be available to those who attend.
CALIFORNIA INVADER WISHING ON A STAR TAKES ON LOCALS IN PIKE PLACE DANCER
Saturday’s signature race is the $75,000 Pike Place Dancer Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at one mile on turf. The morning line favorite, Wishing On a Star, has yet to cross the wire first.
Trained by Michael McCarthy, Wishing On a Star kicked off her with a midfield finish sprinting at Del Mar over the summer. She returned two-and-a-half months later and checked in third going a route of ground in a maiden special weight at Santa Anita. Both starts were on the grass.
Wishing On a Star, purchased for $270,000 at the popular OBS sale last April, is out of a half-sibling to Group I turf winner Nebraska Tornado and Group 2 turf winner Burning Sun. Another sibling, Imprecation, is the dam of 2019 El Camino Real Derby winner Anotherwistafate.
The most accomplished local contender is Code Ribbon, the lone entrant in the field to have already defeated maiden winners. Two starts ago, she won a first level allowance race sprinting on Tapeta. She checked in third in her most recent afternoon appearance at Fresno on dirt.
Sen Sen faces winners for the first time while also trying routing and grass after three consecutive sprint races over Tapeta. Most recently, she took a maiden special weight field gate to wire in a six-furlong dash. Vaping Angel also tries winners for the first time, though she already has route experience under her belt. Trained by Felix Rondan, Vaping Angel defeated maiden special weight company going a mile on September 4.
Irish Wahine is another that makes her turf route debut. Her best effort to date came in August when completing the superfecta in the $100,000 CTBA Stakes at Del Mar. Her only start at Golden Gate was in her career debut on May 28, when she beat next-out winner Lion’s Lair and a handful of others in a maiden special weight. She removes blinkers while stretching out in distance for trainer Ed Moger Jr.
Jessebear completes the field. The Aggie Ordonez trainee is still a maiden, having run fourth against male counterparts in her sole lifetime start.
10-races made the overnight for Saturday’s program, with first post set at 12:45 PM.
Race 7 on Saturday: $75,000 Pike Place Dancer Stakes (one mile on turf)
#1 Code Ribbon (Jockey Frank Alvarado…trainer Jacqui Navarre)
#2 Vaping Angel (Pedro Terrero…Felix Rondan)
#3 Wishing On a Star (Irving Orozco…Michael McCarthy)
#4 Sen Sen (Catalino Martinez…Steve Specht)
#5 Irish Wahine (Assael Espinoza…Ed Moger Jr.)
#6 Jessebear (Francisco Duran…Aggie Ordonez)
CLAIMS REPORT
Below is a list of claims from last week.
FRIDAY
Race 1: Muchtomysurprise (New owner/trainer Dan Franko)
Race 2: Heat Seeking Leta (New trainer Tim McCanna…new owner Alan G. Mindell)
Race 7: Alesha (Jack Steiner…Remmah Racing Inc.)
SATURDAY
Race 2: Lord Wimborne (Owner/Trainer Victor Trujillo)
Race 5: Short Rib (Marcia Stortz…Stanley Spano and Stortz)
FINISH LINES: Good luck to 3-year-old gelding Jungle Cry, who races in the one-mile-and-an-eighth $200,000 Twilight Derby at Santa Anita this Sunday. Jockey Kyle Frey will navigate for trainer Steve Specht. Jungle Cry won the Robert Dupret Derby in August and comes off a runner up finish behind Camino Del Paraiso in the Rolling Green Stakes last month…Congratulations to jockey Pedro Flores, who rode a winner aboard his first mount in almost a year since suffering an injury last fall. Flores guided 6-year-old mare Somara to victory in last Friday’s second race…The first Golden Gate Fields starter for California stallion/Grade I winner Midnight Storm is entered in Race 3 on Friday. Midnight’s Girl, a 2-year-old filly in a maiden special weight, drew post 3 and will be ridden by William Antongeorgi III…Also, the first GGF starter for California stallion/Grade I winner Hard Aces goes in the opener on Friday. Split Aces, owned by Hronis Racing LLC, drew the rail and will be ridden by Assael Espinoza…Leg E (the last leg) of the Stronach 5 wager this week goes as Race 3 at Golden Gate on Friday…Happy birthday to trainer Jeff Bonde, who celebrates his birthday on Saturday.