TESORO EXITS STAKES COMPANY, FACES OLDER IN FRIDAY FEATURE
3-year-old colt Tesoro ends his 2021 campaign in the featured eighth race on Friday, a second level allowance for 3-year-olds and upward at one mile and a sixteenth on Tapeta.
Trained by O.J Jauregui, Tesoro was last seen running second, beaten a length and a quarter, to Arkansas Derby winner Super Stock in the November 23 Zia Park Derby. That day, Tesoro stalked the pace, challenged Super Stock at the top of the stretch and was outfinished in the latter stages. He earned a career high 89 Beyer speed figure for the runner up finish.
“I thought he ran well,” said Jauregui. “We ran him [in the Zia Park Derby] because of the purse [$250,000], and I know Super Stock is a good horse. I figured running against him, we would see where we were at with [Tesoro]…how well we stacked up against a horse with good quality.”
Tesoro’s only start against older horses came two starts ago in the Bulldog Stakes at Fresno, where he sat off the speed before rallying for third behind Zestful and Honos Man. This time around, Tesoro runs on Tapeta and faces another salty group of experienced routers. Even though his two most recent starts have come on dirt, Tesoro has won twice on the Golden Gate synthetic.
“I’m hoping he’s three, four lengths off the lead and can run on from there,” said Jauregui, when asked about what type of trip he expects Tesoro to get in a large field of 11 on Friday. “He likes the dirt, but he always trains well on the Tapeta and he’s run well at Golden Gate before.”
Tesoro possesses the pedigree to be a decent racer. He is by Grade 2 winner Anchor Down and out of a half sibling to 2020 Belmont Stakes and Travers winner Tiz the Law. Tesoro has improved with racing experience, and Jauregui believes that trend will continue in the upcoming new year.
“I really think this horse is going to get better with time,” said Jauregui. “He could be one of these horses that peaks in the spring and summer [of 2022]. Even though he’s run well, he’s still green and he’s still figuring things out. We just need to give him more time and more races and I really think he can get better. This race is a good stepping stone going into his 4-year-old season.”
Live racing at Golden Gate on Friday begins at 12:45 PM. 79 horses are entered on the 9-race card, which averages out to 8.7 horses per race.
8th race on Friday (Second level allowance at one mile and a sixteenth on Tapeta)
#1 I’mgonnabesomebody (Jockey William Antongeorgi…trainer Bill McLean…6-1 morning line)
#2 Descartes (Ruben Fuentes…Sammy Calvario…10-1)
#3 Cool Mountain Lad (Brayan Pena…Victor Trujillo…20-1)
#4 Ready Say Go (Irving Orozco…Sherrie Monroe…9-2)
#5 Ted (Kevin Orozco…Victor Trujillo…15-1)
#6 Tesoro (Francisco Monroy…O.J. Jauregui…4-1)
#7 Synthesis (Frank Alvarado…Jacqui Navarre…7-2)
#8 Sacred Rider (Catalino Martinez…Steve Specht…15-1)
#9 Wine and Whisky (Cristobal Herrera…Felix Rondan…12-1)
#10 Dulas (Santos Rivera…Manny Badilla…12-1)
#11 American Farmer (Pedro Terrero…Steve Sherman…5-1)
LOVE‘EM N LEAVE’EM, STANFORD BAY COMPLETE STRONG 1-2 PUNCH FOR WONG IN FRIDAY ALLOWANCE
Trainer Jonathan Wong and owner/breeder Tommy Town Thoroughbreds enter a pair of 2-year-old colts in Friday’s fifth race, a first level allowance at five and one-half furlongs on Tapeta. Both appear with solid chances to win the contest.
The first of the Wong duo is Love’em N Leave’em, who has won two of three lifetime starts. In his career debut last August, the son of Stanford easily defeated a large field of maidens. Sent off at 1-2 in his next start, a first level allowance, he dueled up front, at a rapid pace, before tiring to third. The winner of the race, C’Mon Man, has since come back to place twice in a pair of stakes races.
After the first career defeat in September, Love’em N Leave’m was given two and a half months between races. He returned in a first level allowance at five furlongs on turf, stalked the pace for the first time, and rallied to beat Highland Ghost and Unraptured in a three-way driving finish.
“I thought he ran really well last time,” said Wong. “He wasn’t really 100% cranked because he missed a lot of time after his second race. He stalked and ran really well, so that gives us options in this race. He doesn’t need to be on the lead. I’ve always thought he was one of our better 2-year-olds this year.”
Like his stablemate, Stanford Bay is a son of Grade 2 winner and million-dollar earner Stanford. He comes off a runner up finish in the Golden Nugget Stakes, finishing behind winner Dr Pescado and C’Mon Man. In five of six lifetime starts, Stanford has finished first or second, displaying an admirable level of consistency.
“[Stanford Bay] always trains good,” said Wong. “He does everything right. He always tries really hard. We were going to stretch him out in the Gold Rush Stakes [on December 4] but he got cast in his stall the morning of the race. We didn’t want to take any chances and scratched him.”
Although Love ‘em N Leave’em and Stanford Bay appear as legit contenders in Race 5, neither are the morning line favorite. The always well-regarded Stormy Samurai, fresh off a gutsy maiden victory three weeks ago, faces winners for the first time and has been installed as the 9-5 morning line favorite by oddsmaker Steve Martinelli. Another major player in Friday’s fifth race is Highland Ghost, who finished a nose behind Love’em N Leave’em last time out. Maiden winners Bandera Azteca, Cowboy Charlie and Tolonisito complete the field.
5th race on Friday (First level allowance at five and one-half furlongs on Tapeta)
#1 Cowboy Charlie (Jockey Alejandro Gomez…Quinn Howey…20-1 on the morning line)
#2 Tolonisito (Pedro Terrero…Jesus Ramos…15-1)
#3 Stormy Samurai (Catalino Martinez…Jack Steiner…9-5)
#4 Love’em N Leave’em (Heriberto Figueroa…Jonathan Wong…5-2)
#5 Bandera Azteca (Irving Orozco…Victor Trujillo…6-1)
#6 Stanford Bay (Brayan Pena…Jonathan Wong…3-1)
#7 Highland Ghost (William Antongeorgi…O.J. Jauregui…6-1)
STAKES QUALITY FIELDS HIGHLIGHT 11-RACE SUNDAY CARD
Two allowance races-one for filly and mare sprinters and the other for older router horses-are part of an 11-race Sunday program at Golden Gate. First post on Sunday is 11:45 AM PT.
The first of two open allowance races comes in Race 6, for fillies and mares at six furlongs on Tapeta. The Jonathan Wong trained Dynasty of Her Own was handed her first career loss on the Tapeta in November when dueling on the lead and tiring. She looks to rebound with a now 8 for 9 lifetime record on the Golden Gate main track. One rival that could challenge her on the lead is Maybe I Will, who made her first start on December 3 for trainer Blaine Wright. That day, she beat a sizeable field of first level allowance foes off a six-and-a-half-month vacation. She inherits the inside post position and could be sent for speed out of the gate.
Tip Top Gal is the only runner in the field that last competed in a stakes race. Most recently, the daughter of Old Topper finished third in a field of 11 in the Bear Fan Stakes for California-bred filly and mare sprinters on December 11. A tactical mare, Tip Top Gal sports peak form for trainer Quentin B. Miller.
Southern California invader First Star is also in the field. The Ron Ellis trainee won her first two career starts in 2019 and finished as the runner up to Grade I winner Bell’s the One in the Grade 2 Lexus Raven Run at Keeneland that same year. Since then, she has failed to be a factor for the win in eight consecutive races and searches for a “W” against this group of Northern California racers.
Rounding out the list of entrants is Wheal Grace (trained by Jose Bautista), who has finished right behind Tip Top Gal in her last two starts, and Fresno allowance winner Empire House (Jonathan Wong).
The ninth race on the program is an allowance for colts and geldings at one mile on the Tapeta. Grade 3 Berkeley Handicap winner Freeport Joe returns to the races after a 10-1 upset over top Northern California handicap horse Camino Del Paraiso. With that effort in mind, he will likely go off as one of the favorites. Freeport Joe will be competing against another Golden Gate stakes winner in Navy Armed Guard, who hasn’t been seen since a victory in the All-American Stakes on May 31. Trained by Quinn Howey, Navy Armed Guard sports a six-furlong work and several five-furlong drills in preparation for his return to the races. A third stakes winner in the race, Jungle Cry, finished fifth behind Freeport Joe in the Berkeley and looks to turn the tables. Earlier in the year, the son of Animal Kingdom won the Robert Dupret Derby on grass, and was a neck behind Camino Del Paraiso in the Rolling Green Stakes.
In Our A has sprinted in all 11 career starts, with five wins and five seconds to his name. He suffered his first off-the-board finish last time out in the Oakland Stakes, though he had an excuse that day. When the gates opened, he leapt in the air and spotted the field many lengths. He only lost by a length and a half in the end, placing fourth in a field of seven, and could have been the winner with a better break. He attempts routing for the first time for trainer Ellen Jackson.
Synthetic specialist Harmon and the Cliff DeLima trained pair of Nowhere Man and Manila Mischief complete the field in Race 9.
GOLDEN GATE SHIPPERS REPRESENT NORTHERN CALIFORNIA IN SANTA ANITA STAKES THIS WEEKEND
For this write up, we relocate to Southern Californi, where several Golden Gate Fields shippers will be competing in a plethora of stakes races at Santa Anita Park over the weekend. Our local contenders are as follows.
In Saturday’s eighth race at “The Great Race Place”, the Manny Badilla trained Sloane Garden contends against older filly and mare turf routers in the Grade 3 $100,000 Robert Frankel Stakes at one mile and an eighth. The soon-to-be 6-year-old mare comes off a third-place finish in the Miss America Stakes in mid-December and will be making her second start off a layoff in the Robert Frankel. In 2020, Sloane Garden won a pair of stakes races at Golden Gate: the Golden Poppy and the Luther Burbank.
One race later, Reid France sends out 5-year-old mare Cowboys Daughter in the Grade 3 $200,000 La Canada Stakes for fillies and mares at one mile and a sixteenth on dirt. A daughter of Australia-bred Hampton Court, Cowboys Daughter has won four races in a row since being claimed by France at Del Mar for $20,000 over the summer. Her last three wins have come against allowance company.
Fast forward to Santa Anita’s Sunday afternoon, when Golden Gate leading conditioner Jonathan Wong will be saddling a handful of newly turned 3-year-olds in stakes events. In Race 8, the $100,000 Blue Norther Stakes for fillies at one mile on turf, Wong sends out Mimajoon and Shoppingforpharoah. Mimajoon last raced in Division 1 of the Golden Gate Debutante, where she went to the lead, set fast fractions, and kept chugging along for a gate to wire score as the longest shot in the field. Two starts ago, she broke her maiden sprinting five furlongs on the grass. A daughter of multiple Grade 2 winning router Fed Biz, Mimajoon tries two turns for the first time in the Blue Norther. Shoppingforpharoah broke her maiden in lifetime start number two sprinting on the turf at Del Mar. She returned two weeks later in the second division of the Golden Gate Debutante and ran seventh at 3-5, dueling at a crazy fast pace before tiring badly down the lane. Like stablemate Mimajoon, Shoppingforpharoah makes her career debut going a route of ground.
Race 10 is the $100,000 Eddie Logan for 3-year-old turf routers. Dark bay or brown colt Boise gets back to the lawn for the Wong barn after a thrilling victory against Godolphin homebred Degree of Risk in the Gold Rush Stakes at Golden Gate. Boise, a perfect 2 for 2 so far, was victorious sprinting on the turf at first asking. Wong also enters Unreal, who attempts routing after a flashy victory in a five-furlong turf dash at Golden Gate on November 20. C’Mon Man, who finished fourth in the Gold Rush and third in the one-turn Golden Nugget Stakes, also makes the trip south for trainer Bill McLean and will run in the Eddie Logan.
CLAIMS REPORT
Below is a list of claims from Opening Day Sunday, December 26:
Race 1: Union Bliss (New Owner/Trainer Jose Puentes)
Race 2: Continental Union (New trainer Jonathan Wong…new owners MJVET Stables, Cheung and Tsai)
Race 2: Red Hot Cat (Quinn Howey…Leon Scott)
Race 3: Handsome Account (Jonathan Wong…MJVET Stables)
Race 3: Poso Creek (Reid France…Goat Racing Stables LLC)
Race 4: Remember Sue (Jack Steiner…Remmah Racing Inc.)
Race 8: All My Hope (Jonathan Wong…Johnny Taboada)
Race 8: Canam Gal (Reid France…Albert and Kathleen Mattivi LLC)
Race 11: Linfield (Manny Badilla…Brett Tahajian and Badilla)
FINISH LINES: Remember the post time schedule this week: Friday’s first race goes off at approximately 12:45 PM, the Saturday opener is set for 12:15 PM, and first post on Sunday is 11:45 AM…Heading into Friday’s card, there is a $3,042 carryover in the Rolling Super High Five for Race 1. Race 4 starts the Golden Pick Six, with a small carryover in the jackpot pool of $3,716…Leg E of the Stronach 5 wager goes as Race 3 at Golden Gate Fields on Friday…Happy birthday to jockeys Assael Espinoza and Irving Orozco, both who celebrate their birthday’s today…Also, a special birthday shout to all of our horses, who turn one year older on January 1!