GGF Opening Day Recap- 12/26/2018

Hot Encounter takes the opening day feature for jockey Juan Hernandez and trainer William Delia.

Race 8 on the card was the feature– it was a $31k first condition allowance for 3-year-olds and up, going 6f over the tapeta. As the gates opened, El Chavo Del Ocho and Brownie Finale began dueling up front, while Shades of Victory and Nap Lajoie were right there on the leaders’ hips. Sweet River Baines was close up and in the mix early but got into a tight spot and had to take back a few lengths. As they rounded the turn and entered the stretch, El Chavo Del Ocho opened up a length lead– however, the duel up front began to take its toll on him and his stride began to shorten. After the early trouble, Sweet River Baines made a strong move and took the lead with an 1/8th to go, but would eventually get ran down by the late running Hot Encounter. Hernandez kept Hot Encounter under a nice hold off the pace and let the race unfold in front of him. He wheeled to the outside and was able to rally home in time. Two the Punch sat on the rail towards the rear of the field and made a sustained stretch run at 30/1 for 3rd. He had a very strong gallop out after the race as well. The gray, Tomahawk Tuesday, was 9th and last throughout the race, until the stretch, where he was able run on and hit the superfecta. The top 4 runners all came from off the pace as the race completely fell apart up front.

Fractions: 22.97 46.40 58.60 1:11.09. Order of Finish: 4-7-1-6

To no surprise, Abel Cedillo picked up where he left off in the fall meet, as he bagged 3 winners on opening day. Juan Hernandez and Francisco Monroy are right behind him with 2 wins each.

Trainer Victor Trujillo had 2 wins on opening day, while a multitude of 7 different trainers were able to pick up 1.

Racing will resume on Friday the 28th with a 9-race card. Golden Gate Fields will be open on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, so that means live racing will run from the 28th-1st. Lastly, on Saturday the 29th, there will be a 2019 calendar giveaway to all patrons on track.