It was a very successful 4 week meet at Pleasanton, as there was a 20% increase in handle from the previous year.
Irving Orozco wins back-to-back riding titles.
Jockey Standings:
Jonathan Wong kept his hot-hand going, as he has now won both the GGF Winter/Spring Meet and Pleasanton Meet training titles.
Trainer Standings:
Stakes recaps:
The 50k Oak Tree Sprint featured some of the top sprinters on the NorCal circuit. After finishing 2nd to Mike’s Tiznow in the Albany Stakes, Summersimage was able to breakthrough with his 2nd career stakes win in the Oak Tree Sprint. This 5yo son of Slew’s Tiznow sat a length off of pace-setting Touched by Autism and was able to reel him in in the stretch. Jockey Kyle Frey did a great job getting to the outside and staying out of trouble. Summersimage has now won $231,243 and is trained by Ricardo Perez. The final time for this 6f race was 1:10.88. Touched by Autism got a smart ride from Juan Hernandez and was almost able to steal the race on the front end. 3rd place went to Tribal Storm. While Summersimage has proven to be a dynamic sprinter, it would not surprise me to see him in the 50k Joseph T Grace Handicap at Santa Rosa next out. Back in 2017 he won the Robert Dupret Derby on turf going the same 1 1/16m distance.
The dazzling debut winner Bulletproof One put in another dominant performance, as she beat the boys by 9 1/4 lengths in the 100k Everett Nevin Stakes. The Ellen Jackson trainee earned a 69 Beyer Speed Figure for her victory. That was an 11 point jump from her first start. She went to the front under Cristobal Herrera and never looked back. The daughter of Idiot Proof threw down fractions of 22.34, 45.73, 58.16, and finished with a final time of 1:05.04. Roses for Laura rallied off a wide trip to just get up for 2nd by a neck over another that had a wide trip in Drippin Sauce. 4th went to the first time starter Doc Tommy. Bulletproof One has now banked $80,400 in 2 lifetime starts. I would imagine that the 100k CTBA Stakes at Del Mar could be the next spot for this talented filly.
While I do not know too much about Mules, Arabians, and Quarter horses, I still thought it would be important to highlight the stakes winners of their respective divisions. Price Check won the Pleasanton Mule Stakes by 1 1/2 lengths. R B KINDLE took the Pleasanton Arabian Stakes by a commanding 11 1/4 lengths. Snowy Coronitas won the Jack Robinson Handicap for Quarter Horses by an easy 1 1/4 lengths.
2yos to follow:
There were 2 notable 2yo debut winners from this meet that look like they have a lot of potential. The first is a 2yo filly by Shanghai Bobby that is named Shanghai Keely. The Ari Herbertson trainee dazzled on debut as she pressed the pace early and then took off when asked by Irving Orozco, to win by a dominant 6 3/4 lengths. She ran 5f in 59.01. Darnquick is a calbred 2yo that people should keep an eye on. Even though he was sent out by low profile connections, this son of Run Brother Ron took some early money and was around 4/1 when the tote opened up (he would drift to 11/1 at post time). Darnquick broke like a rocket and took the field gate-to-wire– he went on to win by 5 lengths in a hand-ride. He managed to stop the clock in 58.60 in this 5f race. There are not really any options for these 2yo winners in NorCal over the summer, so we could very well see them run in stakes down south at Del Mar.
The fair circuit now moves on to Sacramento from July 12-28. Be on the lookout for a Sacramento meet preview on Thursday.
NorCal Horse Racing News 