Leg 2 of the fair circuit concluded on Sunday in Sacramento– the State Fair meet was 3 weeks long. Both the trainer and jockey standings were nail-biters. Trainer Jamey Thomas was able to hold on by 1 win over Isidro Tamayo, and jockey Frank Alvarado ironically claimed 1st place by winning the last race of the meet on Going for the Win.
Trainer Standings:
Jockey Standings:
My favorite race from the meet was the lone Stakes race on the schedule, it was the 50k California Governor’s Cup. The defending champion Alliford Bay was the heavy 1/5 favorite. She took shots early on the lead from Gotham Desire and Royal Descendent, then once she put them away, stablemate Strip It Down made a huge bid for the lead on the turn. Alliford Bay would pull away again and looked clear in the stretch– that was until Shasta Star came motoring on her outside to nip her on the wire. It was a thriller, and the great race call from track announcer Chris Griffin added to the intensity. Shasta Star has now earned $108,230 in 10 lifetime starts. She is trained by Sergio Ledezma and ridden by Ricky Gonzalez.
If you have been following the blog and twitter page, you know that the 2yos have been a constant topic of discussion. I thought we saw two 2yo fillies in the July 20th 9th Race that look to have some promise. Been Studying Her and Cakewalk were on the 2yos to follow list and I had been waiting for them to run. Cakewalk ran at the Pleasanton Meet, but I use the term “ran” loosely, as she had a mishap at the start and lost the rider. The pair showed some speed early and hooked up for a close stretch duel. Ultimately Been Studying Her wore down Cakewalk and got her nose down first on the line. She stopped the clock in 1:05.57 for 5.5 f– which is solid for 2yos over this track. A logical spot could be the 6f Generous Portions Stakes at Del Mar next month. Also, I don’t think we will be seeing Cakewalk as a maiden for much longer.
A horse to keep an eye on for the future is the impressive maiden winner Snow Feather (July 21- Race 8). This 4yo daughter of Idiot Proof was making her first start off of a year plus layoff and trying the dirt for the first time. The Cliff Delima trainee sported some very fast works coming into this one, and she was able to run the field off their feet to win by 8 1/4 lengths. She ran 6f in 1:11.39. It looks like she has turned the corner and I am interested to see how she does against winners next out.
A brief recap of the Quarter Horse, Arabian, and Mule Stakes races:
Jack Clifford Stakes- 350yds- won by Snowy Coronitas
State Fair Arabian Stakes- 6f- won by LIL DUDE AA
Stake (Mule)- 300yds- won by Fast Patsy B
*$287,451 Pick 6 Jackpot will carryover to the Ferndale meet*
The fair circuit now moves to Santa Rosa (Aug 1-13). There will be an in-depth meet preview out on Wednesday.
NorCal Horse Racing News 