WICKED OLD FASHION A TOP CLAIM FOR TRUJILLO
Wicked Old Fashion won the feature race on Saturday afternoon, an allowance for fillies and mares 3-years-old and upward on turf, and stamped herself as a mare to keep an eye on heading into the fall.
The daughter of Colonel John has wracked off 5 wins from 8 starts since moving to the barn of Victor Trujillo, who claimed the 5-year-old mare last May for $14,000. Since the acquisition, Wicked Old Fashion has slowly climbed the class ladder, winning a pair of claiming races before going on to win multiple allowance conditions for owners Frank Aufdermaur and Wayne Swisher.
“Since I claimed [Wicked Old Fashion], she has physically matured,” said Trujillo. “I think that is the main reason why she has gotten better over time. She is more filled out than when I first got her. She has gotten bigger and stronger with age.”
Wicked Old Fashion is 10 for 19 lifetime, with 4 second place finishes and career earnings of $136,605. Her next start is undetermined, but one thing is for certain: the race will be on the grass.
“She needs the turf,” said Trujillo. “That’s her best surface by far.”
Trujillo, one of the more frequent players in the claiming game in Northern California, was humble when asked what the key is to making good claims.
“Making a good claim is not about training a horse better than someone else,” said Trujillo. “You have to get lucky. Sometimes you claim a horse, like Wicked Old Fashion, and they are doing well and they get better because you pick them up at the right time.”
INCENSED BREAKS FIVE AND A HALF FURLONG TRACK RECORD ON SUNDAY
6-year-old gelding Incensed won Race 3 on Sunday, a $16,000 claimer for sprinters on the Tapeta, and broke the 5-and-a-half-furlong track record by a mere .01 seconds while completing the course in a lightning quick 1:02.55 seconds. The previous record for 5 and a half panels was held by Tizaplayer, who won a starter allowance on February 2, 2014 and stopped the clock in 1:02.56 seconds.
Incensed, guided to victory by jockey Kyle Frey, set the pace before drawing away from his competition down the stretch, finishing seven lengths ahead of second place finisher Karma King. Incensed earned an eye popping 102 Beyer speed figure for his victory.
Incensed was making his first start off the claim for Southern California conditioner Vann Belvoir, who purchased the son of Pollard’s Vision out of a July 17 Del Mar claimer for $20,000. Incensed is currently owned by A and J Racing and Mike Sisk.
“He is a real consistent horse,” said trainer Vann Belvoir. “He shows up almost every race; that’s why I claimed him. I found a race at Golden Gate and thought he fit well in that condition, so I shipped him North.”
ROLLING GREEN STAKES THE HEADLINER IN A 5-DAY RACE WEEK
19 nominations were submitted for the marquee race of the summer meet: the $50,000 Rolling Green Stakes for 3-years-old and upward. The Rolling Green Stakes is one of nine projected races on the Labor Day Monday card this week.
Leading the nominations for the mile and a sixteenth turf contest is Zestful, who comes off a gate-to-wire win on turf at Del Mar for trainer Mark Glatt. The 4-year-old gelding by Ghostzapper has won five races in a row and is listed as “probable” for the Rolling Green.
Others stamped on the “probables” list include the Isidro Tamayo trained Builder, Grade 3 placed Many Roses, 2019 Longacres Mile third place finisher Restrainedvengence, 2018 Alcatraz victor Tortosa and the Felix Rondan trained Unpossible. Of course, the list is subject to change.
Entries for Labor Day Monday will be taken Friday morning. Golden Gate Fields races 5-days this week, Thursday through Monday, with first post set for 1:45 PM each day. Gates open at 10 AM for simulcasting.
STALLION BOAT TRIP SIRES FIRST WINNER AT GOLDEN GATE FIELDS
Two weeks ago, California based sire Curlin to Mischief picked up his first win as a papa with 2-year-old Monstrodomous at Golden Gate Fields. One week later, another California freshman stallion, Boat Trip, sired his first winner with his first starter at our Bay Area racetrack.
Last Friday, first time starter Bettor Trip Nick showed speed and was able to turn away the challenge of on-coming runner up finisher Cajun Bettor to win a maiden 25k claimer for 2-year-olds sprinting five furlongs on the Tapeta. Trainer Bill Delia teamed up with jockey Catalino Martinez for the victory. By Boat Trip, Bettor Trip Nick is out of the dam Better Knot, who has produced two other winning foals.
“We’ve always thought he had ability and he sure ran well the other day,” said winning trainer Delia on Bettor Trip Nick. “He is not a tall horse but he is a stocky, muscular type. He was impressive because he made a few different runs in his race. He showed speed, was able to sit off the pace by the far turn and then rebroke again at the eighth pole. It was a nice win.”
As a racehorse, Boat Trip was a talented turf sprinter. He won two stakes races in his career, the Tsunami Slew Stakes and the Hollywood Turf Express, and competed in the 2013 Breeders Cup Turf Sprint. The son of Harlan’s Holiday stood at Special T Thoroughbreds Farm in Temecula this stallion season with a stud fee of $2,500.
FINISH LINES: After two weeks of racing at the summer meeting, jockey Irving Orozco has the most wins out of any rider with 10 victories. William Antongeorgi III is one win behind with 9 winners circle appearances while veteran Frank Alvarado sits in third with 8 first place finishes…Conditioner Victor Trujillo leads the way in the trainer standings with 6 wins. Defending champion Jonathan Wong and John Martin are tied for second in the standings with 4 wins…Trainer Faith Taylor celebrated her birthday last Thursday and picked up a nice present when Songofthedesert won Race 2 that day. Happy belated birthday Faith!…Congrats to trainer Quentin B. Miller, who won the Humboldt County Marathon for the second year in a row with 6-year-old gelding Engram…Well done trainer Quinn Howey, who won the training title at Ferndale this year with a 28% win percentage…$22,142 is carried over to the 20 Cent Golden Pick Six Jackpot wager heading into Thursday’s card…On track patrons and horsemen are in for a real treat, with a new “big screen” in place for the remainder of the meeting. The large television monitor will be placed above the tote board where fans can now gaze and watch races while experiencing a better, more “up and close” view of each race, particularly while observing the backstretch and far turn runs.