The most impressive performance on the day went to the 3yo filly Faithful One in race 8. She only had one prior start, and it was a MSW at Del Mar over the summer. Today, trainer William Morey dropped her in for a 25k tag in this 5 1/2f MCL dash. As the gates opened, she was sent hard by Heriberto Figueroa to get the lead. She would continue to widen her margin as the race went on, and when she crossed the line she had won by a devastating 15 lengths. She showed multiple gears and kept on going– it is extremely rare to see double digit length wins on this tapeta track. The Tommy Town Thoroughbreds homebred put it all together today and I am sure they are happy to see there was no claim put in for her. There must have been some potential early, because she took some money on debut– was bet down to 8/1 in a field of 10. Obviously something went amiss because today was her first run back since that early September run. It was a far distance back to Senssorey in 2nd, and the first time starter Fabled was able to get up late for 3rd. Faithful One stopped the clock in a very quick 1:03.28.
Race 4 was was a 12.5k claimer for 3yos and it was scratched down to just a field of 4. Gray Donovan sat in 2nd behind the pace-setting Lucky’s Last Song and Abel Cedillo began to press the pace on the turn. He would kick clear in the stretch to score by 3 lengths going away. This was the 3yo Graydar colt’s first start in the Jonathan Wong barn since being claimed. Gray Donovan adds to Wong’s already impressive 25% ‘First of the Claim’ percentage. Lucky’s Last Song still managed to hold 2nd, and Cinderellas Prince got 3rd. The 6f were run in 1:10.92.
Multiple stakes-placed Algenon took a competitive field of 40k claimers gate-t0-wire and scored at a solid price of 9/1. Frank Alvarado did a great job hustling Algenon to the front while saving enough in the tank for the stretch drive. The pace was solid up front and the horses that sat 2nd and 3rd finished 5th and 7th in the field of 7. Algenon has now banked over $186k in 24 starts. This 6yo has been consistent and has stayed competitive at the high claiming and allowance levels throughout his career. Mal Verde and Malibu Alex finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. The final time was 1:10.13.
It was great to see Golden Gate Fields eclipse $4mil in handle on back-to-back Dollar Day Sundays. Hopefully Golden Gate Fields can continue to gain momentum and keep the trend going. The weather has improved a lot, and it looks like we could be just a few weeks away from the turf course re-opening!
Jockeys: Frank Alvarado had a big day with 3 wins. Catalino Martinez and Heriberto Figueroa both had solid 2-win days.
- Cedillo *74* 2. Hernandez *56* 3. Martinez *41*
Trainers: William Morey (Races 8, 11) and John Martin (Races 1,2) each had training doubles on the day.
- Wong *52* T-2. Morey, Hollendorfer *18*
Live racing will resume Thursday with a 7-race card. First post is at 12:45pm.
Full results/charts for Saturday’s card: http://www.equibase.com/static/chart/pdf/GG031719USA.pdf
NorCal Horse Racing News 