ANNEAU D’OR MAKES BAY AREA RACING PROUD WITH RUNNER UP FINISH IN BREEDERS CUP JUVENILE
2-year-old colt Anneau D’Or put up a terrific showing in last Friday’s Grade I $2,000,000 Breeders Cup Juvenile, stalking the pace early before hooking up in a stretch duel with eventual winner Storm the Court. Anneau D’Or ran second and finished a head behind the aforementioned foe while earning an 86 Beyer speed figure. Local pilot Juan Hernandez was aboard for the ride.
“He ate up well and came out of the race great,” said trainer Blaine Wright on Saturday evening. “We couldn’t have asked for a better effort from him. We couldn’t be prouder.”
Anneau D’Or, purchased for $480,000 as a 2-year-old, possesses the breeding to be a classy racehorse. He is by top North American stallion Medaglia D’Oro and out of the Tapit mare Walk Close, who won the Grade 3 Modesty Handicap on turf at Arlington Park in 2015. Anneau D’Or is owned by Peter Redekop, who also owns 2019 El Camino Real Derby winner and Preakness participant Anothertwistafate.
Anneau D’Or’s lone career race before the Breeders Cup Juvenile resulted in an eight-length maiden win on turf at Golden Gate last September. The maiden affair has turned out to be very productive: from 7 horses in the event that have started since then, 4 have been next out winners while the other 3 finished second (including Anneau D’Or).
Anneau D’Or returned to his home stall at Golden Gate Fields on Sunday. Plans for his next afternoon appearance are undetermined, although it is certain that Anneau D’Or will train at Golden Gate while the connections choose his next race. Anneau D’Or earned 8 points to the Kentucky Derby with his second-place finish in the Juvenile, so no one should be surprised if the connections opt to keep him on dirt and run him in a ‘Derby points race for his third career start.
2-YEAR-OLDS TAKE CENTER STAGE IN THE GOLDEN NUGGET STAKES
The $50,000 Golden Nugget Stakes for 2-year-olds is the feature race at Golden Gate Fields this week and will be run on Saturday afternoon. The six-furlong event drew a field of 6 and is carded as Race 6 on the 9-race program.
The first contender to discuss is the likely favorite, Fore Left, fresh off a win in the Sunny Slope Stakes at Santa Anita. The freshman colt by Twirling Candy won the Tremont Stakes in the spring at Belmont Park and finished third in the Grade 2 Best Pal Stakes over the summer at Del Mar. Local rider William Antongeorgi III is slated to ride for Kentucky Derby winning trainer Doug O’Neill and owner Paul Reddam.
Another Southern California shipper for the Golden Nugget, Doc Tommy, was privately purchased by 2018 Eclipse Award-winning owners Hronis Racing LLC after a convincing August 18 California-bred maiden win while under the care of Felix Rondan. Now in the John Sadler stable, the Comic Strip colt has been freshened and conditioned at Santa Anita for this race. Juan Hernandez, aboard for the maiden win, rides back for the new connections.
No Longer Silent, who was terrific in a pair of runaway wins on the Golden Gate main track earlier this fall, looks to emulate the two aforesaid victories. The Jonathan Wong trainee is a Tommy Town Thoroughbreds homebred and figures to get ample support in the wagering. Kyle Frey guided the son of Ministers Wild Cat to both career wins and retains the mount.
Blaisin’ Eamon, from the Steve Specht barn, was last seen finishing right behind No Longer Silent in a September 29 allowance. The California bred son of U S Ranger will be ridden by Frank Alvarado, who piloted the dark bay or brown colt to victory when he broke his maiden impressively on September 2.
Bettor Trip Nik was a debut winner for first crop stallion Boat Trip when he broke his maiden on August 23. Since then, the bay gelding has won a starter allowance race, and he makes his stakes debut in this spot. Call Me Peppy rounds out the field; the Andreas Psarras entrant broke his maiden going two turns on dirt at Santa Rosa and makes his first start off an almost 3-month break.
Race 6: $50,000 Golden Nugget Stakes (Approximate post time: 3:15 p.m. PT)
#1 Call Me Peppy (Jockey Ricky Gonzalez, Trainer Andreas Psarras)
#2 Doc Tommy (Juan Hernandez, John Sadler)
#3 Blaisin’ Eamon (Frank Alvarado, Steve Specht)
#4 Fore Left (William Antongeorgi III, Doug O’Neill)
#5 Bettor Trip Nick (Catalino Martinez, Bill Delia)
#6 No Longer Silent (Kyle Frey, Jonathan Wong)
WICKED OLD FASHION SET TO RUN AT DEL MAR
Friday afternoon is opening day of the 2019 Bing Crosby Meet at “Where the Turf Meets the Surf, ol’ Del Mar.” The main event goes as Race 7: the $75,000 Kathryn Crosby Stakes for fillies and mares routing one mile on turf. Entered in the race is 8-1 morning line shot Wicked Old Fashion, one of the top turf distaffers at Golden Gate Fields.
Trained by Victor Trujillo, the daughter of Colonel John most recently finished second behind next out Grade 3 winner Keeperof The Stars in a highly rated allowance race on the Golden Gate Fields grass course. Over the summer, Wicked Old Fashion ran third against males in the Rolling Green Stakes and sports a 3 for 6 record this year, with 2 other in-the-money finishes. Southern California jockey Evin Roman rides for the first time.
A couple of other Bay Area representatives will take part in the Friday festivities at Del Mar. In the first race, Ed Moger Jr. saddles maiden Hawk Hill, while Jonathan Wong will tighten the girth of recent Golden Gate winner Ernie Banks in Race 3. The latter gelding will be ridden by William Antongeorgi III, who flies down to ride.
FINISH LINES: Remember: we have five racing days this week, with our normal Thursday-Sunday racing schedule and a special holiday Monday card. With the Veterans Day Monday card in effect, all veterans and active military members will receive free admission to the races…After three weeks of racing at the current meeting, veteran rider Frank Alvarado has the most wins out of any jockey in the GGF colony with 18 victories. William Antongeorgi III and Juan Hernandez are tied for second in the standings with 13 first-place finishes…Friday’s allowance feature, Race 6, is for 2-year-old fillies. Talented California-bred sprinter Misirlou, a full sibling to 2017 El Camino Real Derby winner Zakaroff, will go off heavily favored for trainer Steve Specht…2018 Camilla Urso Stakes winner Mother of Dragons is getting closer to making her 2019 debut. The Andreas Psarras trainee has posted 7 workouts since September, including a bullet six-furlong drill on the morning of October 24…Congratulations to 27-year-old conditioner Ari Herbertson, who picked up his 100th career win as a trainer on Friday with (none other than) Friday’s At Shady…Race 3 at Golden Gate Fields this Friday is Leg D (the second to last leg) of the $1 Stronach Five wager…Happy birthday to trainers O.J Jauregui, Victor Trujillo and Bill McLean, racing official Kenny Fowler and jockey Frank Alvarado, all who celebrate birthday’s within the next seven days.