MOGER JR. HAS BIG AFTERNOON WITH TRIO OF WINS ON SATURDAY
Last Saturday afternoon, longtime Bay Area trainer Ed Moger Jr. posted three wins from three starters. In a sport where much has to go right for the end game to result in an almighty victory…well…things could not have gone any smoother for Team Moger.
Amazen Grazen, a 3-year-old filly by Grazen, kicked off the three-win day with a maiden special weight score in Race 4. Irving Orozco was aboard for the victory. A filly owned by Ed’s younger brother, Steve, Amazen Grazen was making her fourth lifetime start.
“I’ve always liked [Amazen Grazen],” said Moger Jr. “She can sprint, obviously, but her breeding suggests she will really like running longer on turf. I’m looking at the Campanile Stakes [on Sunday, April 25 for California-breds] with her. I think she’s only going to get better as she gets older. She’s a nice filly.”
Two races later, 3-year-old gelding Prince On the Run broke his maiden for a $12,500 tag. Ridden by Evin Roman, Prince On the Run was the second winner of the afternoon trained by Moger Jr. and owned by Steve Moger.
Toni Two Pocket, a vastly improving filly, completed the hat trick for Moger Jr. with a length and a quarter win in the feature race, a first level allowance for filly and mare sprinters. William Antongeorgi III guided the California-bred filly to victory for owner/breeders Paul Conley and Anthony Randazzo.
“She broke her maiden for $8,000,” said Moger Jr. “For [Toni Two Pocket], she has really improved with maturity. Earlier in her career, she would run fast early and tire. She’d run like a half mile and then start to stop. But over time, she’s learned to settle early in the race. She’s really improved with time.”
Moger Jr. also noted that since Toni Two Pocket is a California-bred, she is still eligible to win at the first level allowance condition once more.
3-YEAR-OLD’S AUDITION FOR GOLD RUSH WEEKEND STAKES’ IN FRIDAY CO-FEATURE
Five colts and geldings and a duo of fillies compete in the co-feature on Friday afternoon, a first level allowance for 3-year-olds at one mile on Tapeta. The eight-furlong contest is carded as the seventh race on an eight-race program.
The morning line favorite is Seattle Bold, who drew post position 3 for trainer Jamey Thomas. The son of Bold Chieftain broke his maiden at first asking, defeating Gallant Guy, who Golden Gate Fields race watchers saw win a maiden special weight last week. Most recently, Seattle Bold tried turf and ran fourth behind solid company at Santa Anita. This is his second start going a route of ground.
Stalking Shadow wheels back in eight days for leading trainer Jonathan Wong after a decisive 2-length victory against starter allowance foes last week. Jimmy Blue Jeans and Bernalinho won California-bred maiden special weight races in February and make their first starts against winners. Cristiano’s Dream broke his maiden in stylish fashion to kick off his career but has since finished well behind in a pair of first level allowance sprints. His breeding suggests he will enjoy added ground: he is by Breeders Cup Mile winner Tourist and a half sibling to Grade 3 Longacres Mile victor Gold Rush Dancer.
Two fillies in the race, Party Spirit and Misty Cat, draw the inside and outside post positions. The former, a Great Britain bred trained by Manny Badilla, broke her maiden in the U.S. debut over the fall going a route of ground but has since finished off the board in a sprint race. California-bred Misty Cat made a burst to the front against maiden special weight company on February 12 and freshens up for her career debut against proven winners.
There is a chance that we will see quite a few of these horses in stakes races on Gold Rush Weekend Saturday, April 24, or Sunday, April 25. Gold Rush Weekend, featuring six stakes’ races on Saturday and a pair of California-bred stakes over turf on Sunday, is the biggest racing day of the year in Northern Caliifornia.
All colts and geldings in this race will be eligible to race in either the $100,000 California Derby on Saturday over Tapeta or the $75,000 Silky Sullivan Stakes for California-bred or California-sired horses over turf on Sunday. Although Bernalinho is a Kentucky-bred, he is still eligible to run in the Silky Sullivan as his sire, Mr. Big, is a California stallion.
Party Spirit could compete in the $75,000 California Oaks over Tapeta on Saturday while Misty Cat would have the choice to enter in either the ‘Oaks or the $75,000 Campanile Stakes for California-bred or California-sired fillies over grass on Sunday.
Race 7 (Friday, March 26, 2021, One mile on Tapeta)
#1 Party Spirit (Jockey Irving Orozco, Trainer Manny Badilla)
#2 Bernalinho (William Antongeorgi III, Isidro Tamayo)
#3 Seattle Bold (Kyle Frey, Jamey Thomas)
#4 Cristiano’s Dream (Erick Lopez, Mike Lenzini)
#5 Stalking Shadow (Evin Roman, Jonathan Wong)
#6 Jimmy Blue Jeans (Assael Espinoza, Andy Mathis)
#7 Misty Cat (Cristobal Herrera, Dan Franko)
CLASSY SPRINTERS CLASH ON FRIDAY
A half dozen sprinters voyage six furlongs in the co-featured sixth race on Friday, a second level allowance on Tapeta. Keep their names in mind; a good effort in this race may result in a trip to the $75,000 Lost in the Fog Stakes for sprinters on Saturday, April 24.
Drawing the inside, El Chavo Del Ocho cuts back from a route to a sprint after a fifth-place finish while racing two turns for the first time. The Jonathan Wong trainee won a pair of races at this condition last year and, when he raced at six furlongs two starts ago in Arizona, he finished as the runner up behind a next-out stakes winner. William Antongeorgi III retains the mount.
Slam Dunk Sermon, breaking from post 4, enters this race a perfect 3 for 3 in 2021. Trained by Steve Specht, the Mr. and Mrs. Larry D. Williams homebred won a first level allowance in January and subsequently scored a pair of starter allowance victories. Most recently, Slam Dunk Sermon defeated next-out winner Facts Matter, who won sprinting last weekend.
Ready for a Fight wheels back to the races in less than two weeks for trainer Steve Miyadi after a terrific runner-up finish in his first career route try. Setting the pace with apprentice Santos Rivera aboard, the Gary Barber homebred led almost every step of the way, getting run down in the final strides by stakes winner Our Silver Oak. Rivera retains the mount for Team Miyadi.
Jeffnjohn’sthundr has not been seen since a first level allowance win against restricted 3-year-olds in 2020. The son of Union Rags was purchases for $170,000 as a 2-year-old and enters this race with a number of sharp workouts on the page for trainer Jeff Bonde. In 2019, he ran second in a maiden race to eventual Kentucky Derby and Breeders Cup Classic winner Authentic. In two other races that year, he had to settle for a minor award behind eventual El Camino Real Derby winner Azul Coast and Arkansas Derby winner Nadal.
Turf Paradise shipper Darnquick, who has won over this track twice before, makes his first start for the Isidro Tamayo barn. Sunset Dragunn also makes his first start for Tamayo while slated as the longest shot on the morning line in the field of six.
Race 7 (Friday, March 26, 6 furlongs on Tapeta)
#1 El Chavo Del Ocho (Jockey William Antongeorgi III, Jonathan Wong)
#2 Jeffnjohn’sthundr (Irving Orozco, Jeff Bonde)
#3 Sunset Dragunn (Francisco Monroy, Isidro Tamayo)
#4 Slam Dunk Sermon (Frank Alvarado, Steve Specht)
#5 Darnquick (Kyle Frey, Isidro Tamayo)
#6 Ready for a Fight (Santos Rivera, Steve Miyadi)
LONGTIME BREEDER LILA LANNING PASSES AWAY
Lila Lanning, who along with her husband Curt owned and bred hundreds of racehorses in California for over four decades, passed away in Arizona on Monday, March 15. She was 82 years old.
Along with being a passionate horsewoman, Lila was adamant about giving back to her community and was a longtime supporter of the Wounded Warrior Project and the Humane Society. She was a seamstress in her free time, enjoyed golfing, and was a loving wife, sister, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.
The Lannings have been longtime supporters of California racing and, more specifically, Golden Gate Fields, racing many of their horses in the Bay Area. The Lannings compiled 442 wins from over 3,200 starters in the 21st century alone, with purse earnings of $11,496,120. All of their racehorses were campaigned under the watchful eye of trainer Ed Moger Jr.
CLAIMS REPORT
Below is a list of claims from last week:
Thursday
Race 5: Miss Ski (New Owner/Trainer Isidro Tamayo)
Race 7: Passionate Road (Owner/Trainer Leobardo Rivera)
Friday
Race 3: In the Wind (New trainer Jonathan Wong…new owner Lucas Downs Ltd.)
Race 3: Made in Karoo (Jack Steiner…Remmah Racing Inc. and Steiner)
Race 4: Mark Whats Mine (Marcelino Trujillo…Nancy Salas-Ibarra and Trujillo)
Race 6: Lolo Paniolo (Isidro Tamayo…Peter McGoldrick and John Tipton)
Saturday
Race 1: Miss Arrowhead (Aggie Ordonez…McLean Racing Stables)
Race 3: Jumping Jill Flash (Sammy Calvario…Johnny Taboada)
Race 6: Effective Union (Owner/Trainer Steve Miyadi)
Race 7: Facts Matter (Rene Amescua…Deliver the Groceries Inc. and Amescua)
Race 7: Oiseau de Guerre (Reid France…Hat Trick Racing)
Sunday
Race 4: Regal Lady (Tim Bellasis…Cassandra Tschanz and Bellasis)
Race 9: No Parking Here (Sammy Calvario…Rhonda Kirby)
FINISH LINES: Grade I Gamely Stakes winner Keeper Ofthe Stars worked six furlongs last Saturday morning in 1:14.20 for trainer Jonathan Wong. According to Wong, the daughter of Midnight Lute is “possible” to run in the Golden Poppy Stakes on Gold Rush Weekend Saturday, April 24…Dyn O Mite, who broke his maiden at Golden Gate for trainer Keith Desormeaux last fall, is entered to run in the $250,000 Jeff Ruby Stakes at Turfway Park in Kentucky. Since the maiden victory at GGF, Dyn O Mite has raced in the Midwest, winning an allowance race at The Fair Grounds before hitting the board in a pair of stakes races…2019 Alcatraz Stakes winner Visitant is also entered at Turfway on Saturday; he goes in the $150,000 Kentucky Cup Classic at one mile and a sixteenth…$21,928 is carried over into the Golden Pick Six jackpot wager this Thursday…Leg E (the last leg) of the Stronach 5 wager goes as the third race at Golden Gate this Friday…Happy birthday to trainer Leobardo Rivera, who celebrates his birthday early next week.