Just a 3-day race week at Golden Gate Fields after a 5-day holiday race week. Over the course of the 3 days, we saw some impressive performances.
First, let’s look at the jockey and trainer standings.
Friday, Sep 6th:
On Friday, we saw a very impressive debut from the Tim McCanna trained Big Maria. The 2yo daughter of Mr. Big took some money and was sent off at odds of 7/2. She found herself well back early in this turf sprint, and at the 1/8th pole it looked like it was a clear 2-horse race between pace-setters Habobanero and Untied. Big Maria began picking off her rivals one-by-one as she flashed an incredible turn of foot to win by a “neck”. Based on her pedigree (Mr. Big out of a Maria’s Mon mare), I would expect her to only get better with added distance. After her debut, that 12k BAROCT price tag looks like a bargain.
The feature on the card was a 25k A/OC race for fillies and mares 3yo and Up going 1 1/16m on the main track. The favorite Kynance stalked the pace from an outside position under Irving Orozco and swooped to the lead in the stretch– she kicked on well to take it by a comfortable 2 1/2 lengths. Trainer Manny Badilla does a great job with European imports as Kynance was able to get her 2nd lifetime win. It’s Alexus ran on for 2nd, and Hal’s Buddy rounded out the trifecta. The final time was 1:45.80.
In the last race, No Cover Charge showed a dominant gate-to-wire win to remain perfect in 2 lifetime starts. She broke alertly under Julien Couton and opened up a commanding 8-length lead at the top of the stretch to put them all away. While she did show a lot of grit in her debut, I thought her debut was dressed up due to the fact that she road the biased part of the track at Santa Rosa. That was clearly bad thinking on my part as she came back to win with ease. Also, while her trainer Jonathan Wong has a very solid win % with FTS, I feel like his runners improve with racing– the fact that she was able to win first time out is another feather in her cap. She adds more depth to an already strong 2yo filly class at Golden Gate Fields, and I look forward to seeing how she does against Allowance company. Also Jonathan Wong was able to score the exacta in this race with Friend of Autism getting up for 2nd.
Full card results/charts for Friday http://www.equibase.com/static/chart/pdf/GG090619USA.pdf
Saturday, Sep 7th:
The 3rd race was a Starter Allowance for 2yos going 5 1/2f on the tapeta. The 2 favorites Bettor Trip Nick and Clear to Close dueled on a quick pace where the 1/4 was up in 21.65. Bettor Trip Nick was able to put away Clear to Close at the top of the stretch but the early pace started to take its toll on him. The Felix Rondan trained Little John had a sustained rally from last to win by a length going away. This son of Comic Strip is now 2-2 lifetime. Monstrodamous grinded away to get up for 3rd. The final time was 1:06.17.
In the 5th, 2yo Misirlou broke her maiden very impressively in her 2nd lifetime start. She pressed the leader from the outside and when Frank Alvarado asked her to go, she took off from them. The Steve Specht trainee won by 4 lengths geared down and stopped the clock in 1:11.94 for 6f. She is a full sister to El Camino Real Derby winner Zakaroff, and she looks like a filly that will get better as the distances get longer.
The feature on the card was the 8th race and it was a 5f 1st level Allowance race. We saw the emergence of a very talented turf sprinter. Stealthediamonds is probably a familiar name to many horse racing fans in Northern California, as she knocked heads with some of the top 2yos last year. She was privately purchased in July and was transferred to the barn of Jonathan Wong. In August she won a 40k claimer sprinting on the turf and Del Mar, and then came back to wire the field in a dominant win on Saturday. I remember seeing this filly in the paddock before her debut, and she looked like a filly that would love the turf. Her one try on turf was very disappointing, but it was going a route of ground– if you look at her form, she is clearly a sprinter. This was great recognition by the new connections to get her sprinting on the grass, and she looks like a filly that has stakes caliber potential. The final time for her easy 4 length win was a sizzling 56.58 seconds.
Full card results/charts for Saturday http://www.equibase.com/static/chart/pdf/GG090719USA.pdf
Sunday, Sep 8:
We saw a compelling 2yo matchup on Sunday in the 4th race between 2x winner Darnquick and the impressive debut winning filly Warm Summer. It was a 40k ALW/OC going 6f on the main track. Darnquick broke well and showed his typical early speed to grab the lead. The Run Brother Ron gelding set fractions of 22.48 for the 1/4 and 45.29 for the 1/2. As they rounded the turn, Warm Summer made a move on the inside and looked like she was going to make a serious challenge to the loose leader. However, once Darnquick switched leads, he was able to find another gear and repel the challenge from the filly. He won by 2 1/2 lengths for trainer Allen Rogers and jockey Hugo Herrera. Smokin Hot Bobbie was able to get 3rd. The final time was 1:11.29.
No Longer Silent was making his 2nd lifetime start in the 6th race and was coming out of a 3rd place effort on debut. His last work heading into this race was a swift 4f bullet in 47.60 (best of 55). As mentioned earlier in this post, Jonathan Wong runners seem to improve a lot with racing, and No Longer Silent took a big step forward by beating a nice horse in Admirably by 6 lengths. He was sent to the lead under Kyle Frey and took them all the way. The final time was 1:11.49. He is definitely a 2yo to keep an eye on going forward.
7 horses lined up in the finale on Sunday, which was a first level Allowance race going 5f on the grass. 3yo gelding Indian Zip shot straight to lead from post position 2 and showed a lot of heart in the lane as he was able to hold off longshot Snow Feather by a neck. This was his turf debut, and his 2nd lifetime win. Favored El Chavo Del Ocho finished 3rd after being stuck in traffic during the stretch, he ran on well once he got clear. The winning son of Indian Evening is trained by Jack Steiner and ridden by Kyle Frey. The final time for this 5f turf dash was 57.54 seconds.
Full card results/charts for Sunday http://www.equibase.com/static/chart/pdf/GG090819USA.pdf
Racing resumes Thursday at Golden Gate Fields with a 1st post of 1:15pm. Follow @NorCalHRNews on Twitter.
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