GGF Recap: Southern Thunder Goes Wire-to-Wire in New Year’s Feature- 1/1/2019

Golden Gate Fields started 2019 with a competitive 10 race card. The feature was Race 9 and it was an Allowance on the turf at 1 1/16m for 4 year olds and up. It was won wire-to-wire by the William Morey trainee, Southern Thunder. There did not appear to be much speed on paper, so jockey Franklin Ceballos decided to send. He got a clear lead, and the others behind figured Southern Thunder would come back to them because of his price– that was the worst thing they could have done. Ceballos who is new to the Golden Gate Fields jockey colony (after having arrived from Southern California), rattled off an opening half mile in 48.28. He saved a lot in the tank for the stretch and kicked home to win comfortably at odds of 15/1. This 5yo son of Southern Image is now 4 for 16 lifetime with earnings of $87,446. 2nd place went to Buckstopper Kit, who found a bit of trouble on the turn before running on solidly. 3rd place went to Aigle who stalked the pace and hugged the rail throughout.

A few horses today had some rough trips, and they will be highlighted on the ‘Week 1 Horses to Watch List’. The Horses to Watch lists are going to cover horses that should be added to your virtual stable for next time they run. The first list will be dropping on Thursday.

Jockeys: Juan Hernandez capped off an incredible opening week with 3 more wins on today’s program– he now has 13 wins from 38 starts. Also jockey Catalino Martinez had a strong showing today with 2 wins from 5 mounts.

1. Hernandez *13* 2. Cedillo *11* T-3. Ocasio, Martinez *4*

Trainers: Jerry Hollendorfer won the opener and the nightcap to move into a share of 2nd in the trainer standings. William Delia has jumped into the outright lead after taking race 4 on the card.

1. Delia *6* T-2. Wong, Wright, Hollendorfer *5*

Live racing resumes on Friday with a solid 8 race card and a first post of 12:45pm. Impressive maiden winner Anothertwistafate returns in a 2-turn allowance. Also, stakes winners Respect the Hustle and Annie’s Candy square off in a challenging turf sprint.