GOLDEN POPPY STAKES ATTRACTS A COMPETITIVE CAST
The feature race at Golden Gate Fields this week is the $50,000 Golden Poppy Stakes for fillies and mares 3-years-old and upward. The mile and a sixteenth contest takes place this Saturday, May 12, and will be run on projected firm turf.
Leading the list of contenders is Not Now Carolyn, a Southern California invader from the Keith Desormeaux stable. The daughter of North American leading sire Tapit comes off an allowance win on dirt at Santa Anita. Her best race may have come three starts ago, when the 5-year-old bay finished second in an allowance race to Grade 2 placed mare La Force.
Dalsaros, another Southern California shipper entered to run in The Golden Poppy, makes her first start in the Bay Area for trainer Carla Gaines. The 5-year-old by Unbridled’s Song recently ran fifth in a turf allowance at Santa Anita. Completing the trio of runners based at “The Great Race Place” is Cynthiana, under the care of Richard Baltas down south.
Hall of Fame conditioner Jerry Hollendorfer has a strong 1-2 punch in the Golden Poppy with Turkish Tabby and Dreamarcher. Turkish Tabby most recently ran second in a salty allowance race over this turf course on April 13 while Dreamarcher makes her second start off a layoff, having just run fifth in the aforementioned allowance event. Coachwhip, another local contender slated to compete in The Golden Poppy, finished third behind Turkish Tabby in the April 13 allowance.
Rounding out the field is Paddy’s Secret, winner of The Sun City Handicap at Turf Paradise, and hard-knocking filly Bella Luma, who recently won an allowance race on Tapeta for trainer Ed Moger Jr.
The Golden Poppy Stakes goes as Race 6 on the 9-race card with a scheduled post time of 2:45 p.m. Pacific Standard time.
$50,000 Golden Poppy Stakes field
#1 Dreamarcher (Frank Alvarado, Jerry Hollendorfer)
#2 Bella Luma (Catalino Martinez, Ed Moger Jr.)
#3 Coachwhip (Juan Hernandez, Jedd Josephson)
#4 Not Now Carolyn (Abel Cedillo, Keith Desormeaux)
#5 Cynthiana (Heribert “Eddie” Martinez, Richard Baltas)
#6 Paddy’s Secret (Silvio Amador, Frank Lucarelli)
#7 Turkish Tabby (Irving Orozco, Jerry Hollendorfer)
#8 Dalsaros (William “Billy” Antongeorgi III, Carla Gaines)
MENDED CONTINUES HER RAGS TO RICHES STORY WITH THIRD PLACE FINISH IN GRADE 3 ADORATON
Claimer turned graded stakes performer Mended continues to flourish at Santa Anita Park. Last Sunday, the John Martin trainee set the pace before finishing a length and a half behind Grade I winner Fault and stakes victor Shenandoah Queen in The Adoration Stakes on dirt. Regular pilot Ricky Gonzalez was aboard once again.
“Thank you to everyone involved with Mended,” said Troy Onorato, who co-owns the 5-year-old mare with his wife Maritza. “[I] have to tip my hat to [the winner] Fault. Mended…she just has so much heart and gives her all every time.”
Mended, claimed for $12,500 by Martin in January of 2017, has gone on to earn over $300,000 since that time. Her biggest accomplishment came when finishing second in the Grade I Santa Margarita two starts ago. She also completed the exacta in the Grade 2 La Canada Stakes and scored a gate to wire victory in the $110,000 Claiming Crown Glass Slipper Stakes at Gulfstream Park last December.
GOLDEN GATE FIELDS TO OFFER $50,000 LATE PICK 5 GUARANTEE EVERY SUNDAY FOR REMAINDER OF THE WINTER/SPRING MEET
Golden Gate Fields track officials announced Wednesday afternoon that the bayside track will offer a guaranteed pool of $50,000 in the Late Pick 5 wager every Sunday until the end of the 2018 winter/spring meet, which concludes on Sunday, June 10. The Late Pick 5 is a 50-cent minimum bet, with the sequence taking place in the last five races of each race card.
“We have five Sunday cards left to go and our racing office projects very good field sizes and competitive racing for the remainder of the meet,” said Golden Gate Fields general manager David Duggan. “We would like to offer a further incentive for our dedicated horseplayers who watch and wager on Golden Gate.”
The first $50,000 guaranteed pool will be offered this Sunday, May 13. The four other race dates in which the guarantee will be offered are May 20, May 27, June 3 and June 10. First post for each Sunday is 12:45 PM Pacific time.
FINISH LINES: Abel Cedillo and William Antongeorgi III are tied atop the jockey standings with 68 wins apiece…Jonathan Wong holds a 2-win lead in the trainer standings over Jerry Hollendorfer. Wong has made 41 trips to the winner’s circle this meet…Riser and Pyscho Sister both finished off-the-board in their respective races at Churchill Downs last week…Congratulations to trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, who conditioned Instilled Regard to a fourth place finish in The Kentucky Derby. The son of Arch went off at 85-1 and rounded out the superfecta under Southern California jockey Drayden Van Dyke. With the fourth place finish, Instilled Regard earned $100,000 for his connections…Good luck to jockey Julien Couton, who has moved his tack to Emerald Downs for the summer…Golden Gate Fields welcomes back jockey Edgar Velasco. The apprentice pilot rode at Emerald Downs for a brief time but has returned to the Bay Area for the remainder of the Golden Gate Fields winter/sprint meet…Happy (early) birthday to journeyman rider Catalino Martinez, who celebrates his birthday this upcoming Monday…The Golden Pick Six jackpot pool continues to grow: $25,280 is in the pool heading into Thursday’s card.