Albany, Calif. (Jan. 21, 2017) — So Conflated shipped in from Southern California to bring back to back $100,000 California Derby victories to trainer Doug O’Neill. Ridden by Kentucky Derby winning jockey, Mario Gutierrez, the 1 and 1/16 miles was completed in 1:44.71. So Conflated sat just off the pace for the majority of the race before rallying to the lead to beat More Power to Him. Betting favorite Vending Machine and 6 to 1 Secret House fought for the lead early with blistering fractions of 24.18, 48.92, and 1:13.32 before fading in the stretch to finish last and second to last. So Conflated’s last win came as the result of a disqualification at Santa Anita on December 26 where he was placed first in his $56,000 Maiden Special Weight.
“We were pretty excited after the last race. I know it was a win by DQ, but he still showed real good promise in that race. I figured this track would suit him really good,” said Gutierrez, who had a near perfect trip all the way around. “Halfway through the race everything was according to plan, but from the 3/8 to the ΒΌ pole I started worrying a little bit because all of the horses were moving, so I waited for a hole, and thankfully one opened. When I asked him to go, he responded.”
Assistant trainer Leandro Mora has been working with this horse from the start alongside trainer Doug O’Neill. “He was a late bloomer. He was not a Nyquist type horse. We had to babysit this horse. He wasn’t a professional mentality. He has good quality we need to just put him on the right track and make sure he is doing the right thing. I would love to repeat what we did last year with Frank Conversation, but that’s up to the trainer and owner for what’s up next for him. This is horse can run on dirt and Derby fever is right around the corner. Why not us?” said Mora.
Tomorrow, January 22, will be Dollar Day with $1 Beers, $1 Hot Dogs, $1 General Admission, $1 General Parking, and $1 Programs. The Pegasus World Cup Invitational will be January 28. Come out and join us for the richest horse race ever run, $12,000,000 and California Chrome’s last race. Our Chinese New Year Celebration will be February 4; Golden Gate Fields will be offering $2 Tsingtao beer, Wokitchen Food truck, Red Envelope Giveaway of over $12,000 in vouchers and Lion Dancer entertainment.