GOLDEN GATE TO OFFER GUARANTEED LATE PICK 5 AND LATE PICK 4 POOLS THROUGHOUT GOLD RUSH WEEKEND RACE WEEK
Golden Gate Fields will offer guaranteed pools in the Late Pick 5 and Late Pick 4 wagers throughout the racing week of Friday, April 28 through Sunday, April 30. The Late Pick 5 consists of the last five races on each card while the Late Pick 4 is comprised of the last four races on the card. Both wagers are 50-cent minimum plays.
On Gold Rush Weekend Saturday, April 29, the Late Pick 5 sequence will have a guaranteed pool of $150,000. The Late Pick 4 pool on Saturday is guaranteed at $200,000. A half dozen stakes races highlight the Saturday program, including the $250,000 Grade 3 San Francisco Mile and the $100,000 California Derby.
On Friday, April 28, the Late Pick 4 and Late Pick 5 pools will have a guaranteed pool of $100,000. On Sunday, the Late Pick 5 pool is guaranteed at $150,000 while the Late Pick 4 pool will be guaranteed at $100,000. Two stakes races, the Silky Sullivan and Campanile for California-breds on turf, are the co-featured events on Gold Rush Weekend Sunday.
TESORO AND IL BELLATOR TAKING UNCONVENTIONAL ROUTES TO 2023 SAN FRANCISCO MILE
5-year-old Tesoro and 4-year-old Il Bellator have shown plenty of class in their racing careers. That said, it will be no easy task for either horse to win Saturday’s Grade 3 $250,000 San Francisco Mile, especially given both enter the event through an unconventional route: training up to the race off a layoff. Tesoro hasn’t competed since the fall while Il Bellator was last seen in The Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar in September.
Tesoro’s most recent trip to the winners circle came one year ago on Gold Rush Weekend 2022, beating a second level allowance field on the same grass course he’ll be racing over in the 2023 ‘Mile. Trainer O.J Jauregui noted that Tesoro, along with the ‘Mile being his first start of the year, would also be making his first start as a newly turned gelding.
“He has a mind of his own,” said Jauregui. “There have been a few races where he gets in a position [during a race] that maybe he doesn’t like, and he just sort of gives up. He’s training well right now. I’m really happy with how he’s doing. I’ve noticed a difference [in the way he trains] and I think making the ‘equipment’ change has helped him. I think we might see a more focused Tesoro. He’s got the ability. He just needs to put it together.”
Il Bellator, like Tesoro, last won on Gold Rush Weekend 2022, though he scored against other 3-year-olds in the California Derby that day. Il Bellator sports a trio of stamina building workouts, including two 7-furlong drills and a bullet six-furlong work.
“This is Plan B for us,” said trainer Jose Bautista. “We tried to get him in another race, and it didn’t fill. This is the only spot to run him. The good thing is he’s training great. I gave him some time off because he had lost weight and he needed some time to regain that weight and freshen up. It did him a lot of good. He came back to the track looking like a new horse. He’s been training really, really good. I’ve tried to get him as fit as I can off works. He worked out of the gate and galloped out a mile in [1 minute and] 39 [seconds] the other morning. It was a super nice work.”
Tesoro and Il Bellator better have their running shoes on. This year’s edition of the San Francisco Mile came up tough. In search of his first San Francisco Mile win, trainer Phil D’Amato campaigns a legit contender in 4-year-old gelding Balnikhov, who was last seen finishing off the board in the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita in March. As a 3-year-old in 2022, Balnikhov won the Oceanside Stakes at Del Mar and the Grade 3 Bryan Station at Keeneland. He makes his second start of the year in the San Francisco Mile with Southern California based pilot Umberto Rispoli set to ride.
A second Southern California conditioner, George Papaprodromou, ships two horses for the 2023 ‘Mile. 7-year-old gelding Bob and Jackie is an old pro who finished third in the Grade 3 American at Santa Anita earlier this month. His most significant win to date came in the 2021 9-furlong Grade 2 San Gabriel. Stablemate Flavius, in the meantime, makes his first start off a year vacation. A multiple minor stakes winner, the War Front ridgling was last seen finishing off the board in the 2022 Frank Kilroe Mile. Jose Valdivia Jr. hops aboard Bob and Jackie while locally based rider Evin Roman is set to navigate Flavius.
The Leonard Powell trained Dicey Mo Chara came up a length short in the Grade 2 Charlie Whittingham on Santa Anita Derby Day and cuts back a quarter mile for this eight-furlong event. His last victory came three starts ago in the Grade 2 San Gabriel in December. Jockey Drayden Van Dyke has the call aboard the 5-year-old European bred gelding.
The speedy Lamplighter Jack was a decisive winner of a starter allowance race last month at Santa Anita and takes a significant step up in class to face graded stakes competitors. He has set the pace in most of his races and is expected to be close to the lead again. Abel Cedillo picks up the mount for trainer Librado Barocio.
The Ed Moger Jr. conditioned Tarantino is multiple Grade 3 placed on dual surfaces and most recently finished as the runner up in a second level allowance at Santa Anita in March. Completing the field is Rio King, a runaway winner of a first level allowance at Golden Gate who takes a major class hike in the San Francisco Mile.
The San Francisco Mile is one of six stake races on the Gold Rush Weekend Saturday, April 29 program. First post on a terrific 12-race card is 1:15 PM PT.
Race 11: The Grade 3, $250,000 San Francisco Mile (For 3-year-olds and up at one mile on turf)
#1 Tarantino (Jockey Armando Ayuso…Trainer Ed Moger Jr…Morning line odds of 12-1)
#2 Balnikhov (Umberto Rispoli…Phil D’Amato…9-5)
#3 Rio King (Santos Rivera…Sammy Calvario…12-1)
#4 Bob and Jackie (Jose Valdivia Jr…George Papaprodromou…6-1)
#5 Tesoro (Frank Alvarado…O.J. Jauregui…15-1)
#6 Lamplighter Jack (Abel Cedillo…Librado Barocio…81)
#7 Il Bellator (Alejandro Gomez…Jose Bautista…15-1)
#8 Flavius (Evin Roman…George Papaprodromou…5-1)
#9 Dicey Mo Chara (Drayden Van Dyke…Leonard Powell…3-1)
ALWAYS SEEKING SEEKS SIXTH CONSECUTIVE WIN IN TURF AND STAKES DEBUT IN CAMILLA URSO
4-year-old filly Always Seeking is a win machine. The Larry and Marianne Williams homebred has wracked off five consecutive victories since December and makes her stakes debut on Saturday in the $75,000 Camilla Urso Stakes. The Camilla Urso is a five-furlong turf dash for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up.
“We’re going to go ahead and run in the stake,” said trainer Jack Steiner. “She worked an easy half mile the other morning. We scoped her and she came out of her work great.”
Steiner noted that Always Seeking has given signals that she is chomping at the bit to compete in a race.
“She’s a real sweetheart around the barn,” said Steiner. “The day before her work, she was squealing and bopping her head around. When she does that, that just means she’s telling us she’s feeling good and ready to run. She’s ready to get back out there.”
Always Seeking, along with facing stakes company for the first time, will also be making her career debut on turf. Steiner doesn’t believe the surface switch will be an issue.
“Her dam [Heat Striker] ran in one race …it was a turf sprint, and she won,” said Steiner. “She’s a real honest filly. I don’t see why she won’t like it.”
Other locals set to tackle Always Seeking are Chancery Way, winner of the Bear Fan Stakes in December, and Carolina Mia, who placed second in last year’s Albany Stakes against males. Chancery Way, like Always Seeking, has never raced on turf but is bred to enjoy it. By Mr. Big, whose progeny fare well on grass, Chancery Way is out of the War Chant mare This Means War. Carolina Mia, on the other hand, has put up most of her best efforts while sprinting five furlongs on the lawn.
“She is training out of her mind,” said Chancery Way’s trainer, Jamey Thomas. “She’s doing better than she ever has right now, honestly. She’s training like she’s going to run really well.”
The class of the race is undoubtedly Alice Marble, a Grade 2 placed Phil D’Amato trainee who recently won back-to-back California-bred turf sprint stakes at Santa Anita. The Nick Alexander homebred by Grazen has earned $470,880 from 15 starts, with 7 career wins and 5 other in-the-money finishes. Umberto Rispoli rides. Another Southern California shipper, Xmas Surprise, was a convincing second level allowance winner last month and defeated runner up finisher Secrets Told, who is also entered in the Camilla Urso. Leonard Powell trains Xmas Surprise and employs local rider Assael Espinoza to ride; they teamed up together to win last year’s Golden Poppy with Avenue de France. Secrets Told will be ridden by Drayden Van Dyke. Secrets Told, a 5-year-old mare by Broken Vow, has been training with John Sadler at Santa Anita and will be under the care of local trainer Andy Mathis for this race.
Two additional home team players round out the field. Slack Tide was a multiple stakes winner last year at Emerald Downs, was given the fall off, and failed to fire in her first start off a layoff about a month ago. Lexington Humor broke her maiden like a good thing in her first career start at Golden Gate, won a first level allowance at Del Mar over the summer, but has lost her last two starts against second level allowance sprinters at Turf Paradise. She returns to the site of her eye-popping maiden win.
Race 7: The $75,000 Camilla Urso (For fillies and mares 3-year-olds and up at five furlongs on turf)
#1 Always Seeking (Jockey William Antongeorgi III…Trainer Jack Steiner…morning line odds 4-1)
#2 Slack Tide (Irving Orozco…Blaine Wright…20-1)
#3 Carolina Mia (Armando Ayuso…Felix Rondan…12-1)
#4 Alice Marble (Umberto Rispoli…Phil D’Amato…8-5)
#5 Lexington Humor (Brayan Pena…O.J. Jauregui…15-1)
#6 Secrets Told (Drayden Van Dyke…Andy Mathis…8-1)
#7 Chancery Way (Evin Roman…Jamey Thomas…8-1)
#8 Xmas Surprise (Assael Espinoza…Leonard Powell…5-2)
PRINCE ABU DHABI FACES TOUGHEST TASK YET IN CALIFORNIA DERBY
Horse racing is a peculiar game. Unlike most sports where ownership groups will spend hundreds of millions of dollars to win the most significant events, people from all walks of life can own a stakes champion. Some horses are purchased for a 7-figure amount and will never see the racetrack. Others will at least get to the races but fail to win a single race. On the contrary, horses purchased for as little as $1,000 turn out to be multiple stakes winners. Some have even won Grade I races.
Regardless of breeding, purchase price, or physical confirmation, the dream to own a stakes horse is always alive.
Looking back at Prince Abu Dhabi, purchased for $8,000 as a yearling by owners Lance and Steve Kinross, he ended up being quite the bargain. A Kentucky bred son of Palace Malice, the Blaine Wright trainee has won three consecutive races to kick off his career. After two sprint wins, Prince Abu Dhabi competed at a two-turn distance for the first time on March 31 and narrowly edged out Mother’s Prayer, a much more seasoned racer expected to be a major player in the Silky Sullivan Stakes against state-breds on Sunday.
Prince Abu Dhabi, a $55,200 earner with a perfect win record, makes his stakes debut in the $100,000 California Derby for 3-year-olds at one mile and a sixteenth on Tapeta this Saturday. Not bad for an $8,000 purchase, right?
“In his first race he was so professional,” said Wright. “We’ve always liked him, and I wasn’t surprised he won [first out]. In his next two races, he was green, but he did what he needed to do to win. He’s got talent for sure, but he’s going to have to improve to win on Saturday. He worked well the other morning and he’s doing good. I’m pleased with how he’s coming into the race.”
Prince Abu Dhabi faces 8 others, including Chase the Chaos, winner of the El Camino Real Derby in February. He has started once since then, in the Grade 2 San Felipe at Santa Anita, where he finished off the board. He returns to a track he enjoys, the Tapeta, and faces easier company in the California Derby for trainer Ed Moger Jr.
The Steve Sherman trained Harcyn finished third in the El Camino Real Derby in February and was third home behind Prince Abu Dhabi in the March 31 allowance. The dark bay colt is well bred, by Goldencents out of a half sibling to G1 Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo and G1 winner Tiago. He’ll be wearing blinkers for the first time in the California Derby and retains the services of regular rider William Antongeorgi III.
Passarando won the Gold Rush Stakes at Golden Gate and the Golden State Juvenile at Santa Anita last year, and finished fourth in his most recent start, the El Camino Real Derby in February. Passarando posted a one-mile workout on the morning of April 15 as a stamina building drill leading up to his first start in two and a half months. Trainer Steve Specht employs go-to jockey Frank Alvarado for the California Derby ride.
The Williamson Racing LLC homebred Egon RNA’d for $375,000 at Keeneland as a yearling. The pedigree suggests he could be a good one, by Ghostzapper out of Grade 2 winner Nashoba’s Joy, she herself from the same female family as Grade 1 winner Nashoba’s Key. Traveling a mile on debut, Egon stalked the pace, took the lead in midstretch, and powered away for a runway victory on April 8. Three weeks later, he returns in the California Derby. Evin Roman guided Egon to victory first time out and sees fit to ride again.
Two Southern California shippers are in the field. Both are trained by Michael McCarthy. Phospherescence was a gate to wire maiden special weight winner at Santa Anita on turf and faces winners for the first time while Jam Session broke his maiden in a sprint over the Golden Gate Tapeta two races back. The latter gelding was never in a factor in an allowance race at Santa Anita five weeks ago and tries routing for the first time in the California Derby.
Two locals round out the field. Sea Dog finished four lengths behind Chase the Chaos in the El Camino Real Derby and most recently placed second in an allowance race. Nauvoo was a dominant claiming race winner at Santa Anita, earning the co-highest last-race Beyer speed figure (80) out of anybody in the California Derby.
Race 10: The $100,000 California Derby (For 3-year-olds at one mile and a sixteenth on Tapeta)
#1 Sea Dog (Jockey Francisco Monroy…Trainer O.J Jauregui…morning line odds of 20-1)
#2 Harcyn (William Antongeorgi III…Steve Sherman…4-1)
#3 Nauvoo (Brayan Pena…Jonathan Wong…20-1)
#4 Egon (Evin Roman…Reid France…12-1)
#5 Phosphorescence (Umberto Rispoli…Michael McCarthy…8-1)
#6 Jam Session (Assael Espinoza…Michael McCarthy…6-1)
#7 Passarando (Frank Alvarado…Steve Specht…5-1)
#8 Chase the Chaos (Armando Ayuso…Ed Moger Jr…5-2)
#9 Prince Abu Dhabi (Alexander Chavez…Blaine Wright …4-1)
MULTIPLE STAKES WINNER TOP HARBOR CRANKED UP FOR A+ RACE IN LOST IN THE FOG
Prepping for the Lost in the Fog Stakes on April 1 in an open allowance race, three-time stakes winner Top Harbor had to call on all his class to outfinish the talented Star Racer, who had recently strung together three consecutive runaway wins against first and second level allowance company. In every one of those starts, Star Racer earned 93, 96, and 97 Beyer speed figures. Displaying grit and determination, Top Harbor defeated Star Racer by a nostril and picked up a 92 Beyer for the victory.
“He came out of that race pretty tired,” said trainer Tim McCanna. “Heck, he ran hard. Both of those horses put on a great show. They both ran great.”
Top Harbor sports two works since his last afternoon appearance on April Fool’s Day. His most recent morning work, a 59.60 five-furlong drill, screams off the page.
“He’s got good energy now,” said McCanna. “It took him a few days of rest to get his energy level back after that last race. He’s doing well. He’s not a gelding. Sometimes it’s hard to keep the weight off him. We have to train him hard, but he always does what we ask him to do. He’s just a racehorse.”
Top Harbor’s story of consistency can be told simply by looking at his lifetime race record. From 15 starts, the California-bred by the late Harbor the Gold has won 6 times, with 5 runner up finishes and one additional third place finish. Half of his wins have come in stakes: he won the Everett Nevin on dirt as a 2-year-old, defeated older foes at 3 in the 2021 El Dorado Shooter, and was victorious in the Oakland Stakes last November.
“He always shows up,” said McCanna. “He loves to run, that horse.”
Top Harbor draws post position 2. Regular rider Frank Alvarado set to be reunited with the 5-year-old gelding.
A decent group of locals are part of the Lost in the Fog lineup. San Francisco Mile nominee Crazy Dreams was supplemented into the Lost in the Fog by his connections in a surprise twist. The Isidro Tamayo trainee, who was last seen finishing second in the McCann’s Mojave Stakes going 9 furlongs, has only sprinted once, with that lone effort resulting in a head loss as a maiden in his first lifetime start.
My Summer Dream won three races in a row at Santa Anita and was claimed off the third victory by trainer O.J Jauregui. After throwing in a couple clunkers for his current connections, he put it all together in his third start for the barn, winning a second level allowance at Golden Gate. With the confidence booster, My Summer Dream is back to winning form. Larry’s Legend, the runner up finisher to My Summer Dream in the aforementioned allowance, is also part of the Lost in the Fog Stakes field.
Top Harbor’s barn buddy, Unraptured, was third in the April 1 allowance and makes the third start in his current form cycle in the Lost in the Fog. Ditto Cool Mountain Lad, who finished fourth behind Top Harbor and Unraptured on April 1. Last year, Cool Mountain Lad won the Oak Tree Sprint at Pleasanton and a second level allowance at Golden Gate.
Two Southern California shippers complete the field. Lovesick Blues has won his last two races while sprinting on dirt, including just three weeks ago in a dominant victory against starter allowance rivals. Creative Peak won a first level allowance sprinting on the turf at Del Mar in the fall but has lost three races since then. In one of those losses, he ran sixth behind Grade 3 stakes winner Motorious. He also finished ahead of Lovesick Blues that day.
Race 8: The $75,000 Lost in the Fog (For 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs on Tapeta)
#1 Cool Mountain Lad (Jockey Brayan Pena…Trainer Victor Trujillo…morning line odds of 12-1)
#2 Top Harbor (Frank Alvarado…Tim McCanna…9-5)
#3 Lovesick Blues (Umberto Rispoli…Steve Miyadi …3-1)
#4 Unraptured (Assael Espinoza…Tim McCanna…8-1)
#5 My Summer Dream (Armando Ayuso…O.J. Jauregui…6-1)
#6 Creative Peak (Evin Roman…Sammy Calvario…12-1)
#7 Crazy Dreams (Irving Orozco…Isidro Tamayo…4-1)
#8 Larry’s Legend (Santos Rivera…Sammy Calvario…12-1)
GOLDEN POPPY STAKES A WIDE-OPEN AFFAIR
10 fillies and mares are entered in the $75,000 Golden Poppy Stakes. On paper, it’s anybody’s race.
Rose Maddox won the Moscow Burning Stakes against state-breds on Tapeta and returns to Golden Gate in search of a stakes victory against open company. The versatile daughter of Grazen was last seen finishing second in the Irish O’Brien Stakes while suffering traffic issues behind Alice Marble, one of the favorites in the Camilla Urso Stakes.
Trainer Neil Drysdale will have two chances to win the Golden Poppy with Nadette and Ever Smart. Nadette finished second in the Grade 3 Autumn Miss in November but has finished off the board in three consecutive graded stakes since then. She finds class relief in the Golden Poppy. Ever Smart, on the other hand, sports inconsistent form against second level allowance company and takes a bump up in class.
Australia Mia is a multiple Group 2 winner in South America before moving to trainer Michael McCarthy’s Southern California string. She kicked off her North American racing career with a third-place finish in the 12-furlong Astra Stakes, but returned a month and a half later and was eased (but crossed the wire) in the Grade 3 Santa Ana Stakes. Her best makes her a legit threat to take home the top prize.
The Northern California contenders are a strong bunch. Buyback was a nose short from winning this race last year, getting tagged in the final stride by race winner Avenue de France. The aforesaid foe came back to win the Grade 2 John C. Mabee Stakes at Del Mar over the summer. Off a layoff in her last start, Buyback finished fourth sprinting.
“That sprint race was a prep for [the Golden Poppy],” said Buyback’s trainer, Blaine Wright. “She’s a router. We were just getting a race into her. The Golden Poppy has been the goal all along. We weren’t expecting to win that sprint race. She got something out of it, and that was exactly what we were looking for.”
Since moving to the United States, Signorina Merisi is three for four on the Tapeta for trainer Manny Badilla. That said, she has never run over turf in America and finished in-the-money-with no wins-in only 2 of 8 starts on grass overseas. On the contrary, she boasts career best form. She has steadily climbed the class ladder, breaking her maiden in a maiden special weight, subsequently winning a first level allowance, and most recently scoring a second level allowance victory. She posts a lightning quick, bullet five-furlong workout leading up to the Golden Poppy.
Ascendancy exits the Grade 3 Santa Ana, finishing fifth while having to steady sharply at the quarter pole that day. Like Signorina Merisi, who coincidentally beat Ascendancy in a first level allowance in January, Ascendancy has been campaigned to where she has gone condition by condition before taking the next logical step up in company. Freshening up for the Golden Poppy, trainer O.J Jauregui believes his filly is entering the race in peak form.
“She’s coming into this race better than she’s ever gone into any race,” said trainer O.J. Jauregui. “I’m excited to see how she runs against this level of competition. I think she fits.”
Anthony’s Cleopatra makes her third start in the current form cycle after a pair of losses sprinting against one of the best filly and mare sprinters on the grounds in Always Seeking. A daughter of Constitution, Anthony’s Cleopatra has exceled routing in the past. In fact, she won the California Oaks last year on Gold Rush Weekend Saturday against 3-year-old fillies.
Another stakes winner last year, Tam’s Little Angel, won the She’s A Tiger Stakes last year at Pleasanton. Her recent form shows three consecutive off the board finishes. Clockstrikestwelve, a second level allowance winner in February, ran sixth in this race last year but has hit the board in three other stakes events over the course of her career.
Race 9: The $75,000 Golden Poppy (For fillies and mares 3-year-olds and up at one mile and a sixteenth on turf)
#1 Rose Maddox (Jockey Santos Rivera…Trainer Steve Miyadi…Morning line odds of 7-2)
#2 Nadette (Armando Ayuso…Neil Drysdale…3-1)
#3 Signorinamerisi (Assael Espinoza…Manny Badilla…6-1)
#4 Buyback (Evin Roman…Blaine Wright…8-1)
#5 Tam’s Little Angel (Catalino Martinez…Steve Specht…20-1)
#6 Ever Smart (Neil Drysdale…William Antongeorgi III…12-1)
#7 Australia Mia (Umberto Rispoli…Michael McCarthy…6-1)
#8 Anthony’s Cleopatra (Frank Alvarado…Tim McCanna…12-1)
#9 Clockstrikestwelve (Brayan Pena…Jonathan Wong…10-1)
#10 Ascendancy (Irving Orozco…O.J. Jauregui…5-1)
CALIFORNIA OAKS KICKS OFF STAKES ACTION ON SATURDAY
The first of six stakes on the Gold Rush Weekend Saturday program is Race 6, the $75,000 California Oaks for 3-year-olds fillies at one mile and a sixteenth on the Tapeta. Four local horses face off against a lone Southern California shipper in the race.
We begin with Lily Poo, who broke her maiden at Del Mar in the fall for trainer Michael McCarthy. The Kentucky daughter of Tapiture was outrun in a first level allowance at Santa Anita on March 27 and tries a route of ground for the first time in the ‘Oaks.
Trainer Andy Mathis is giving the green light for California-bred Smiling Lady to stay on the Tapeta and face open company rather than moving to turf 24 hours later in the state-bred Campanile Stakes. An apparent need-the-lead type who figures to be on the pace, the daughter of Smiling Tiger was a three and a quarter length, gate to wire winner in a first level allowance on March 26. That day, she beat Bourbon Glaze, Delusively, and Mastery Kat, all who enter back in the California Oaks.
Bourbon Glaze, who has run second in two consecutive races since being claimed for $12,500 by trainer Blaine Wright and owner Eric Kenneally, is on the verge of becoming a stakes winner or stakes placed router. Not a bad claim. The daughter of Union Rags has run admirably in both starts for the Wright barn and gets a crack against stakes company in this spot.
The well-bred Delusively is a half sibling to Grade 2 winner Chocolate Martini and is by Breeders Cup champion Good Magic, who is off to a good start as a stallion. Purchased for $75,000 by owners Ed and Theresa DeNike as a yearling, Delusively puts the blinkers back on after a poor effort in her most recent start when she raced without the hood for the first time. Two starts ago, she placed second behind Mastery Kat in her first start against winners.
Mastery Kat rounds out the field. She finished in-the-money in her last two starts for trainer Jamey Thomas against allowance foes and, like the others, makes her stakes debut in this spot. She has only finished off the board once in five lifetime starts.
Race 6: The $75,000 California Oaks (For 3-year-old fillies at one mile and a sixteenth on Tapeta)
#1 Smiling Lady (Jockey Armando Ayuso…Trainer Andy Mathis…morning line odds of 9-5)
#2 Delusively (Alejandro Gomez…Jose Bautista…8-1)
#3 Bourbon Glaze (William Antongeorgi III…Blaine Wright…8-1)
#4 Mastery Kat (Brayan Pena…Jamey Thomas…4-2)
#5 Lilly Poo (Umberto Rispoli…Michael McCarthy…8-5)
GOLD RUSH WEEKEND SUNDAY AT GOLDEN GATE FIELDS HIGHLIGHTED BY 2 CALIFORNIA-BRED STAKES
Berkeley, Calif. (Friday, April 28, 2023)-Two stake races highlight a 10-race card on Day 2 of Gold Rush Weekend 2023 this Sunday, April 30 at Golden Gate Fields. First post on Sunday is 1:15 PM.
Race 5 on Sunday, beginning the Pick Six sequence, is the co-featured $75,000 Campanile Stakes for California-bred 3-year-old fillies at one mile on the turf. The Nick Alexander homebred Carole Lombard enters the 2023 Campanile fresh off an allowance victory on March 31 at Santa Anita. Her lone stakes try resulted in a fifth-place finish in the Leigh Ann Howard California Cup Oaks. Golden Gate Winter/Spring meet leading rider Assael Espinoza is slated to ride for trainer Phil D’Amato. Carole Lombard will need to turn the tables on Sell the Dream, a multiple Grade 3 placed router who was last seen running second in the Leigh Ann Howard California Cup Oaks for trainer Brian Koriner. She makes her first start in four and a half months in the Campanile and will be ridden by local pilot Armando Ayuso. Also making the trip north is Proof She Zips, trained by Michael McCarthy and to be ridden by Kentucky Derby winning jockey Mario Gutierrez. The daughter of Idiot Proof tries routing for the first time after a runner up finish sprinter against allowance company at Santa Anita. She was supplemented into the Campanile by her connections after failing to nominate to the race last week.
Like No Other was fifth home behind Carole Lombard on March 31 and returns to Golden Gate, where she broke her maiden two starts ago for trainer Jonathan Wong and owner/breeder Tommy Town Thoroughbreds. Wong and Tommy Town also campaign supplemental entrant Get My Point, coming off a maiden win just last week. Rounding out the field is Rousing Jewel, a Larry and Marianne Williams homebred trying turf for the first time. The Steve Specht trainee is a multiple allowance winner at Golden Gate and placed second in the Golden Gate Debutante as a 2-year-old last year.
In the penultimate ninth race, ten California-bred three-year-olds voyage one mile on the turf in the $75,000 Silky Sullivan Stakes. The main local contenders figure to garnish support in the wagering. 2022 Golden Nugget Stakes winner Clovisconnection wheels back in three weeks after a fifth-place finish behind the talented Kangaroo Court in the Echo Eddie Stakes at Santa Anita. The son of Vronsky makes his career debut on turf in and will be ridden by William Antongeorgi III for the first time. Mother’s Prayer was nosed out for the win by California Derby contender and undefeated Kentucky-bred Prince Abu Dhabi last time out. Happy Does is a multiple Golden Gate allowance winner at Golden Gate and draws the rail. Two Southern California entrants spice up the field: allowance winner Hacking It Up from the George Papaprodromou barn and Please Focus, also an allowance winner, from the Doug O’Neill stable.
Race 5: The $75,000 Campanile (For California-bred or sired 3-year-old fillies at one mile on turf)
#1 Get My Point (Jockey Brayan Pena…Trainer Jonathan Wong…120 pounds)
#2 Proof She Zips (Mario Gutierrez…Michael McCarthy…120)
#3 Like No Other (Evin Roman…Jonathan Wong …120)
#4 Rousing Jewel (Frank Alvarado…Steve Specht …120)
#5 Carole Lombard (Assael Espinoza…Phil D’Amato…120)
#6 Sell the Dream (Armando Ayuso…Brian Koriner …120)
Race 9: The $75,000 Silky Sullivan (For California-bred or sired 3-year-olds at one mile on turf)
#1 Happy Does (Jockey Santos Rivera…Trainer Felix Rondan…120 pounds)
#2 Clovis Connection (William Antongeorgi III…Blaine Wright…120)
#3 Bob’s Blue Moon (Frank Alvarado…Angelo Tekos Jr…120)
#4 Trinidad (Catalino Martinez…Roger Hansen…120)
#5 Rodrigoknows (Irving Orozco…Victor Trujillo…120)
#6 Please Focus (Mario Gutierrez…Doug O’Neill…120)
#7 Mother’s Prayer (Assael Espinoza…Steve Specht…120)
#8 Cousin Richie (Alejandro Gomez…Sergio Ledezma…120)
#9 Hacking It Up (Evin Roman…George Papaprodromou…120)
#10 Charbonneau (Armando Ayuso …Andy Mathis…120)
CLAIMS REPORT
Friday
Race 3: La Vikina (New trainer Andy Mathis…New owner Bob Bone)
Race 5: Safe Combination (Ed Moger Jr…Johnny Mcafoos)
Race 5: Sync (Isidro Tamayo…Leon Scott)
Race 6: Hot Rageous (Sammy Calvario…Mary Tucker)
Saturday
Race 1: Sugar Beets (Jack Steiner…Lemonte Isom)
Race 3: Never Had I Ever (Jonathan Wong…MJVET Stables and Clay Sides)
Race 3: Practical Bid (Jack Steiner…Remmah Racing Inc.)
Race 7: Auspicious Style (Jack Steiner…Melvin Simonovich)
Race 7: Luck Is Golden (Jonathan Wong…SpergerWay Stables)
Race 8: Roister (Reid France…Hat Trick Racing)
Sunday
No Claims
FINISH LINES: A big round of applause for 6-year-old Awesome Summer and his trainer, Jose Bautista. Bautista had the 6-year-old gelding ready to roll off a 32-month layoff last Sunday in the nightcap, a first level allowance race, and won the contest in gate to wire fashion. Jockey Catalino Martinez, aboard for the winning ride, picked up a riding triple on Sunday with the victory. Bautista and Martinez also teamed to win the eighth race with Saint Ives…During Races 6 through 9 on Friday and all-day Saturday and Sunday, XBTV/Santa Anita’s Zoe Cadman and Jeff Siegel will be on the simulcast feed giving their expert analysis and insight for race watchers…FanDuelTV will have their own live coverage of Gold Rush Weekend with popular talent Dave Weaver on site this Saturday and Sunday…$8,045 is carried over in the Rolling Super High Five pool for the next race in which the wager is offered on Friday…Last Saturday, a sharp handicapper was the single ticket jackpot winner of the Pick 6 and took home a whopping $71,819 jackpot. With that, the jackpot pool began anew on Sunday. $4,750 is carried over into the Golden Pick Six jackpot wager heading into this Friday…And finally, Happy Gold Rush Weekend!!!