GGF Recap- Anothertwistafate Dominates El Camino Real Derby- 2/16/2019

It was a cold and windy Saturday at Golden Gate Fields on El Camino Real Derby Day. The road to the Kentucky Derby stopped by the Bay Area for it’s annual trip. Also, an added incentive to this year’s race is that the winner will receive an automatic berth to the G1 Preakness Stakes.

The local favorite Anothertwistafate took them all the way and scored a dominant 7 length victory in the El Camino Real Derby. The Blaine Wright trainee broke alertly and was able to inherit the lead after Kingly deferred. After a swift opening quarter went in 23.38, jockey Juan Hernandez did a great job to slow things down and relax this son of Scat Daddy. As Kingly and the others began to make there moves, Anothertwistafate was able to find more gears. He began to pull away at the top of the stretch, and quickly opened up to a 7-length lead– his acceleration was breathtaking. The most important part of his performance to me was that he was able to run the final furlong of this 1 1/8m race in 12.08 without being asked much. While he does have a spot in the Preakness, today’s sparkling performance seemed to give the connections ‘Derby Fever’. After the race, owner Peter Redekop told XBTV reporter Millie Ball that they are going to look at 2 more Derby preps. Anothertwistafate was the most dominant El Camino Real Derby winner in recent memory, and it is great to see a local horse give the Kentucky Derby trail a go. Bob Baffert’s Kingly was still a bit green, but was able to hold on for 2nd place– he is still figuring things out. The Hollendorfer trainee More Ice rallied on for 3rd place. Longshot Angelo’s Pride made a wide sweeping move to complete the superfecta.

It took 3 starts for Fairly Lucky to break her maiden, and she did it in Race 6. Coming off 2 uneasy trips, jockey Juan Hernandez was able to keep this Lucky Pulpit daughter out of trouble after the slow break. She sat in 8th on the backstretch, and made a 5-wide sweeping move on the turn. The William Morey trainee rallied on strongly to win by 1 1/2 lengths– she is progressing nicely.

Yesterday, we saw Abel Cedillo have a strong 4-win day. He is riding at such a high level, and the defending champion is continuing his quest to repeat. Catalino Martinez had a nice 2-day win and is sititng in 3rd in the standings. Trainers Jonathan Wong and Jerry Hollendorfer each won 2 races on the 8-race card. Mithqaal was able to make it back to back 62.5k Optional Claimer wins. This son of Speightstown has been so consistent, and is showing he is just as strong on the tapeta as he is the turf.

Jockeys: Juan Hernandez had the hot hand today, as he won 3 consecutive races– he took races 5, 6, and 7.

1. Cedillo *49* 2. Hernandez *40* 3. Martinez *26*

Trainers: All 9 races today were won by different jockeys.

1. Wong *37* 2. Wright *14* 3. Hollendorfer *13*

Results:

Race 1:

1. Honey Pot J:Martinez T:Wong $10.00 $4.40 $3.20
2. Bounty Hunter J:Antongeorgi III T:Hollendorfer $3.80 $2.80
3. Bills Smokn Bullet J:Ceballos T:Morey  $2.80

Race 2:

1. King’s Peak J:Antongeorgi III T:Herbertson $7.40 $3.40 $2.20
2. Lolly Express J:Cedillo T:Tamayo $3.00 $2.40
3. Pass Due Payment J:Alvarado T:Navarre  $3.20

Race 3:

1. Seau J:Alvarado T:Howey $5.20 $2.80 $2.20
2. King Eddie J:Cedillo T:McCanna $3.20 $2.40
3. Bob’s All In J:Gomez T:Chew  $2.40

Race 4:

1. Sojourn J:Monroy T:Gonzalez $54.20 $11.80 $8.40
2. Freddies Dream J:Martinez T:Wong $3.00 $2.40
3. Forever the Chief J:Antongeorgi III T:DeLima  $5.80

Race 5:

1. Scott’s Best Beth J:Hernandez T:Mathis $3.00 $2.40 $2.10
2. Starza J:Gonzalez T:Trujillo $6.20 $4.40
3. Chattin With Jenny J:Alvarado T:Knapp  $5.40

Race 6:

1. Fairly Lucky J:Hernandez T:Morey $8.60 $4.80 $4.00
2. Check Out J:Couton T:Rondan $7.40 $5.00
3. California Canter J:Monroy T:Evans  $10.60

Race 7:

1. Anothertwistafate J:Hernandez T:Wright $4.40 $2.60 $2.40
2. Kingly J:Roman T:Baffert $3.00 $2.60
3. More Ice J:Cedillo T:Hollendorfer  $3.80

Race 8:

1. Journey to Run J:Amador T:Delia $9.40 $4.80 $3.80
2. Pepper Crown J:Gomez T:Moger, Jr. $15.60 $8.20
3. Indygo Bo J:Hernandez J:Hollendorfer  $3.20

Race 9:

1. Chatterman J:Henry T:Tamayo $8.80 $4.80 $3.60
2. Six Gun Smokin J:Amador T:Lenzini $11.60 $5.60
3. Vending Machine J:Alvarado T:Trujillo  $3.00