MATHIS RUNNERS TO EMPLOY DIFFERENT RUNNING STYLES IN SATURDAY CO-FEATURE
Trainer Andy Mathis saddles a third of the six entrants in this Saturday’s co-featured fourth race: a first level allowance at six furlongs for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up. 9-5 morning line favorite Angel’s Advocate draws post 5 while 7-2 shot The Great Haynes is positioned directly to the outside of her stablemate.
“When I’ve got two horses in the same race, I just want them to run their race,” said Mathis. “You don’t want to see them compromise each other’s chances though.”
Luckily for Mathis, both of his entrants will be employing different running styles. 7-year-old mare Angel’s Advocate, who finished second at this level two starts ago and was last seen easily defeating high level claimers, prefers to be in front. She sports a nearly perfect 4 for 5 record in as many starts on the Golden Gate main track Tapeta.
“Over time, we’ve tried a few different things and found out what she wants to do,” said Mathis.
“She likes to be up on the pace, and she likes this synthetic surface.”
On the contrary, The Great Haynes is likely to be stalking the speed. The daughter of Haynsfield was last seen finishing third, beaten just three quarters of a length, at this condition on November 26.
“She’s really sharp right now,” said Mathis. “I thought she was a little bit unlucky last time. She had to wait behind horses.”
Neither Mathis entrant is a lock to win. The Jonathan Wong trained Sheza Girly Girl was last seen suffering a far from ideal trip against stakes company. That afternoon, she steadied behind horses at the five-furlong marker before closing good ground down the lane to finish a length and a half behind race winner Chancery Way in the Bear Fan Stakes. She has won at this condition once before and attempts a second win at the level.
Luxury Liner, who defeated Sheza Girly Girl in a November 6 race at this condition, seeks to rebound after an off the board finish in the Bear Fan Stakes. The Nick Alexander homebred makes her third start off a seven-month layoff for trainer Steve Miyadi.
Avery Blue won a California-bred maiden special weight at Santa Anita on turf in the fall. Since then, she has since finished off the board in two consecutive tries against state-bred allowance foes. She makes her Tapeta debut against open company for Hall of Fame conditioner Neil Drysdale. Mischievous Curlin rounds out the field. After a two-length loss behind Luxury Liner on November 6, the Faith Taylor trainee failed to fire in a two-turn turf route race three weeks later. She freshens up and gets back to sprinting on Saturday.
Nine races are on the docket for Saturday. First post is 12:15 PM. This racing week, Golden Gate has four consecutive live race days: Friday, Saturday (New Year’s Eve), Sunday (New Year’s Day), and Monday.
Race 4 on Saturday (First level allowance for fillies & mares 3 YO and up at six furlongs on Tapeta)
#1 Avery Blue (Jockey Armando Ayuso…Trainer Neil Drysdale…Morning line odds of 12-1)
#2 Sheza Girly Girl (Frank Alvarado…Jonathan Wong…2-1)
#3 Mischievous Curlin (Irving Orozco…Faith Taylor…8-1)
#4 Luxury Liner (Santos Rivera…Steve Miyadi…9-2)
#5 Angel’s Advocate (Assael Espinoza…Andy Mathis…9-5)
#6 The Great Haynes (Kevin Radke…Andy Mathis…7-2)
CHAVEZ MAKES HIS PRESCENCE FELT ON OPENING DAY
24-year-old journeyman rider Alexander Chavez won two races on Opening Day and stamped himself as a jockey to keep an eye on at the current Winter/Spring meeting. In the first race of the meet this past Monday, Chavez guided Remember Sue to a nose victory. Three races later, Chavez split horses with 4-year-old gelding My Dominator turning for home and outfinished two rivals down the stretch to pick up his second victory on the afternoon.
Before moving to Golden Gate, the native of Panama rode at Thistledown Racecourse in Ohio. He rode 342 horses and won 57 races, equating to a 17%-win rate. He tied for second in the jockey standings with Angel Diaz, who picked up 70 more mounts than Chavez. Agent Brent Harmon represents Chavez at Golden Gate.
“[Alexander] has impressed me,” said Harmon. “He gets really low on a horse when he rides. He sort of reminds me of Evin Roman and Kyle Frey. He’s a very aggressive rider and can finish strong on a horse. What I really like about him is that he’s a humble kid and works hard. He asks me if he has any horses to gallop in the mornings. He’s happy to work.”
Harmon was introduced to Chavez through a mutual friend, Arizona trainer Jose Silva Jr, and owner Johnny Taboada.
“Johnny was a big help,” said Harmon. “Johnny encouraged me to travel to Turf Paradise to see if anybody over there wanted to give it a go in California. There were a few guys who were interested but eventually it just wasn’t going to work out…at least right now. Silva told me, ‘Hey, I’ve got this one guy I know over in Ohio who can really ride. He rode at Turf for a week or so and he was really good.
Eventually, Alexander and I connected. We talked a little bit, and he was game to give it a try. Literally 24 hours later he had a plane ticket. I said to myself, ‘Wow, he’s really committed to doing this.’”
Chavez appears to have been fed a steady diet of mounts by numerous trainers this week; he rides four on Friday, five on Saturday, and five more on Sunday. Entries for a special Monday, January 2 card will be drawn on Friday, but Harmon believes Chavez will have his fair share of business on that day too.
“Like any rider that goes somewhere new, it’s good if they can win early,” said Harmon. “People start to pay attention right away. It’s good we got the ball rolling.”
Chavez was not the newest member of the riding colony for long. On Monday afternoon, it was publicly announced that veteran rider Jose Valdivia Jr. was set to ship his tack to Golden Gate. He has three mounts on Sunday and one on Sunday. More on that in next week’s News and Notes.
FRIDAY’S SIXTH RACE HAS EL CAMINO REAL DERBY IMPLICATIONS
The top finishers in Friday’s sixth race, an allowance for 3-year-olds at one mile, may reappear in the one mile and an eighth El Camino Real Derby on Saturday, February 11. A field of eight is signed on to compete in the sixth race co-feature.
An intriguing up and comer is Travel the Map, who won on debut for trainer Tim McCanna in a one-mile maiden special weight and faces winner for the first time. A $42,000 sale purchase by Liam’s Map, the grey Kentucky-bred gelding set the pace with pressure before drawing off to break his maiden by over 5 lengths.
This will be a good class test to see where Travel the Map fits with the other soon to be top 3-year-olds of 2023. A quartet of entrants in Race 6 on Friday exits the $75,000 Gold Rush Stakes. The winner of the Gold Rush, California-bred Passarando, is probable to run in next Saturday’s $200,000 California Cup Derby for state-breds at Santa Anita.
The best finisher of the four was Chase the Chaos, who rallied from the back of the field and finished strongly as the runner up. Chase the Chaos broke his maiden at Canterbury Park in the summer on turf and was transferred to Moger’s Golden Gate string shortly thereafter. After a third-place finish sprinting in the Golden Nugget, Chase the Chaos improved in his second start for Moger Jr. while getting back to routing.
Happy Does won at this level two starts ago and returns to a condition he is obviously competitive at. Most recently, the Gray Farms homebred rounded out the superfecta in the Gold Rush. Gold Rush fifth place finisher It’s Thievery and tenth place finisher Smokin’ Hot are also entered in the Saturday’s sixth race.
Abinadi failed to fire in the Golden Nugget Stakes on November 12 and freshens up a month and a half for trainer Bill McLean, who also campaigns It’s Thievery. Abinadi broke his maiden for a $150,000 claiming tag at Del Mar in the summer and was purchased at auction for $75,000 by his current connections following the maiden triumph. A son of Goldencents, Abinadi adds blinkers while making his route debut. Strength of Autism, fourth in the Golden Nugget, also tries two turns for the first time in the sixth race on Friday.
Rounding out the group is Suburban Prince, a Doug O’Neill trained son of Good Samaritan whose lone victory came against maiden special weight company on the Tapeta. Since then, the bay colt has finished double digit lengths behind the winner in a pair of Southern California turf races.
Race 6 on Friday (First level allowance for 3 YO’s at one mile on Tapeta)
#1 Smokin’ Hot (Jockey Julien Couton…Trainer Jonathan Wong…Morning line odds of 8-1)
#2 It’s Thievery (Assael Espinoza…Bill McLean…6-1)
#3 Strength of Autism (William Antongeorgi III…Isidro Tamayo…12-1)
#4 Abinadi (Irving Orozco…Bill McLean…15-1)
#5 Happy Does (Santos Rivera…Felix Rondan…3-1)
#6 Travel the Map (Kevin Radke…Tim McCanna…9-5)
#7 Suburban Prince (Brayan Pena…Doug O’Neil…10-1
#8 Chase the Chaos (Armando Ayuso…Ed Moger Jr…7-2)
LADY’S SERMON READY TO GET BACK TO THE WINNERS CIRCLE ON FRIDAY
Lady’s Sermon kicked off her career in 2021 like a filly with a bright future. After demolishing maidens in the first baby race of the year, she returned in the fall and easily defeated first-level allowance company in fast time.
Being a California-bred, she was eligible to defeat first level allowance foes for a second time. Trainer Steve Specht tried her routing at the aforementioned condition on a handful of occasions, but Lady’s Sermon never displayed the kick she showed sprinting.
After another seven-month vacation, Lady’s Sermon returned in the fall of this year and hit the board twice; once against Luxury Liner and Sheza Girly Girl (see the first article) and most recently was second best in a respectable effort. Both efforts came sprinting against older counterparts.
In the third start of her current form cycle on Friday in Race 7, Lady’s Sermon faces arguably easier company. This time around, she faces a first level allowance field restricted to 3-year-old fillies. She breaks from the outside stall in the six-furlong sprint.
“She’s never run a bad race sprinting,” said Specht. “She draws a good post. She should work out a good trip, sit off a little bit, and come with a run.”
Bettors have plenty of options to choose from in the Friday feature. Code Ribbon has won two of her last three races at this level for trainer Jacqui Navarre and exits a run on December 2 in which she earned a career high Beyer (81). The second and third place finishers in that race-Blue Wildcat and Zazen-are also entered.
The speedy Iconic Sky set the pace and faded to fourth as the favorite on December 2. A California-bred allowance winner at five furlongs on turf at Del Mar earlier this year, the daughter of Vronsky is expected to be a pace player. Ditto Cause She’s a Lady, who was close to a fast pace and defeated starter allowance foes in her first start off a claim for trainer Blaine Wright on December 10.
Grazen in the Sun showed plenty of grit when winning at first asking in October for trainer Ed Moger Jr. She returned one month later against older allowance foes and finished a length and three quarters behind the gold medalist while having to deal with traffic issues approaching the top of the stretch. She must turn the tables on Lady’s Sermon, who beat Grazen in the Sun by a length for second that day.
Always Seeking cuts back from a route to a sprint and should be fit with the turnback in distance in mind. In September, she flew home in the late stages of an allowance race and defeated Code Ribbon and Blue Wildcat on the square. Like Lady’s Sermon, Always Seeking was bred by owners Larry and Marianne WIlliams. Likely longshot Callmemarthajane completes the field of nine in Race 7.
8 races kick off our racing week on Friday. First post is 12:45 PM.
Race 7 on Friday (First level allowance for 3 YO fillies at six furlongs on Tapeta)
#1 Blue Wildcat (Jockey Armando Ayuso…Trainer Jack Steiner…Morning line odds of 8-1)
#2 Callmemarthajane (Brayan Pena…Jonathan Wong…20-1)
#3 Code Ribbon (Frank Alvarado…Jacqui Navarre…2-1)
#4 Zazen (Kevin Radke…Dan Markle…15-1)
#5 Always Seeking (William Antongeorgi III…Jack Steiner…6-1)
#6 Grazen in the Sun (Alejandro Gomez…Ed Moger Jr…10-1)
#7 Iconic Sky (Julien Couton…Andy Mathis…3-1)
#8 Cause She’s a Lady (Irving Orozco…Blaine Wright…8-1)
#9 Lady’s Sermon (Catalino Martinez…Steve Specht…6-1)
CLAIMS REPORT
Below is a list of claims from Opening Day:
Monday
Race 3: Hunters Ghost (New trainer D. Wayne Baker…New owner Baker and Michele Santoro)
Race 4: Armour Plate (Owner/Trainer Jim Gilmour)
Race 5: Patsy Montana (Jesus Ramos…Candelario Barragan, Juan Garcia and Salvador Ruiz)
FINISH LINES: The marquee race on New Year’s Day Sunday attracted an oversubscribed field of 12. The contest, for filly and mare routers at one mile, goes as the second leg of the Golden Hour Late Pick 4…The last leg of the aforementioned wager drew a field of 11 for soon to be 3-year-old maidens. Among those entered is the Blaine Wright trained first time starter El Bromista, a $160,000 2-year-old in training sale purchase by Practical Joke. Tim McCanna sends out firster Zeus’ War, a 2021 Keeneland sale graduate by Dialed In who dropped the hammer at $190,000…The Ed Moger Jr. trained Stilleto Boy put up a valiant effort in his first start off a layoff, finishing second behind last year’s Dubai World Cup winner Country Grammer in the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes at Santa Anita. Stilleto Boy could compete next in the Pegasus World Cup or Santa Anita Handicap…Congrats to jockey Leonel Camacho Flores and trainer Jose Puentes, who teamed up with first time starter Lucky Lad for a 68-1 upset victory in Race 7 on Opening Day, December 26. In the maiden special weight affair, Lucky Lad set a contentious pace and fended off all challenges for a three-quarter length victory. Lucky Lad is a 3-year-old California-bred by Finnegan’s Wake owned by Luciano Medina…Remember: four racing days this week (Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday)…Happy New Year!!!