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Thursday: Premium Forest Takes 12 Furlong Turf Feature
Coming off a Starter Allowance win at 1 1/8m on this turf course in August, Premium Forest was able to stretch out to 1 1/2m to take the Thursday feature. Pace-setter Shot of a Lifetime gave the field the slip turning for home and looked like he was going to pull off the upset. However, Premium Forest started to make his move on the turn, and he began to close into the margin with each and every stride. In the final 20 yards, the son of Forest Command hit the lead under a perfectly timed ride from Luis Ocasio and pulled away to a 1/2 length victory. Premium Forest has proven to be a strong claim, as he has now won 4 out of his last 7 starts (7 for 7 ITM) for trainer Ari Herbertson. The final time was 2:32.48.
Full results/charts for Thursday
Friday: Keeper Ofthe Stars Keeps on Shining
Track record holder Keeper Ofthe Stars returned to her home track after a strong 4th place finish in the G1 Del Mar Oaks. Making quite the drop in class, she was sent off as the heavy favorite in this Allowance race (which was run at the same distance as her track record). The Jonathan Wong trainee went to the lead under William Antongeorgi and never looked back– she cruised to an easy 3 1/2 length victory over Rolling Green Stakes 3rd place finisher, Wicked Old Fashion. This daughter of Midnight Lute continues to improve and adds a nice 1-2 punch with 3yo fillies for Wong, he has Stealthediamonds for turf sprints, and Keeper Ofthe Stars for turf routes. I would imagine we will see her in a stakes race down south next, as this race should set her up well for it.
The feature on Friday was an A/OC race for fillies and mares 3yos and up. It was a strong group, and Left Alone was able to outlast Sweetly Spoken in a stretch duel to get up by a nose. It is nice to see this daughter of Reckless Abandon round back into form, as 2 starts ago she bolted on the turn and stopped. Her confidence seems to be high as she has now won 2 straight races, and it will be interesting to see if she can keep the ball rolling. She is trained by Julie Baker and was ridden by William Antongeorgi, who scored his 3rd win on the card.
Full results/charts for Friday
Saturday: Stradari Scores Impressive Debut Win
Just want to make a brief mention about Amber Louise, who in the 6th race, won her 4th consecutive race (5 out of her last 6 since being claimed). She has shown the ability to run well on dirt, turf, and synthetic. Congrats to Frank Alvarado, Isidro Tamayo, and Garrel Chung.
When a horse gets sent off at even money for a barn that doesn’t usually crank their runners up first time out, that is usually a sign that they have ability. This was the case in the 7th race on Saturday with the OJ Jauregui trained, Stradari. As the gates opened, the daughter of Square Eddie (30k FT Santa Anita purchase) shot straight to the lead with William Antongeorgi. After setting fractions of 22.04 for the 1/4 and 45.77 for the 1/2, Stradari had an extra gear for the stretch run and powered home to win by 4 lengths. Midnight Sunrise ran on well for 2nd in her 1st career start, and Sara Crewe was able to hold for 3rd. The final time for this 5.5f race was 1:04.15. The 2yo filly class in Northern California continues to get stronger with the addition of Stradari, who joins her stablemate Warm Summer, Shanghai Keely, Been Studying Her, Cake Walk, Big Maria, Misirlou, Wise Rachel, and No Cover Charge.
True to Herself made her Northern California debut a winning one, as she took down a first level Allowance race. She made her first 7 starts in Ireland before shipping out to Southern California. After 2 races with trainer Richard Baltas, she was shipped up North to run for leading trainer Jonathan Wong. Jockey Julien Couton sat her in a perfect rating position in 2nd behind pace-setter, Casino Games. The daughter of Clodovil responded well in the lane to score by a length. Trustini got up for 2nd, Fabriana closed to nose out longshot Casino Games for 3rd. The final time for this 1 1/16m race on the grass was 1:44.21.
Full results/ charts for Saturday
Sunday: Strong Allowance Victory for Oiseau de Guerre
Oiseau de Guerre continues to show an affinity for Golden Gate Fields with back-to-back wins. He took down the 3rd race against a very classy field that included some of the top sprinters in Northern California. Julien Couton took back the Michael McCarthy trained son of War Front early and let him get into a comfortable stride. He wheeled him out on the turn and began to pick off the others one by one– he went on to score by a 1/2 length. Stakes winners My Friend Emma and Summersimage finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. The final time was 1:09.53.
The most exciting race of the day was the 7th and it was a MSW for 2yos. 9 of the 11 runners were making their first start, including Ajourneytofreedom who is a 1/2 brother to El Camino Real Derby winner Anothertwistafate. The winner of this race was a first time starter, but it was Foreign Protocol who was able to get the job done. He stalked the pace behind He’s a Hit and was able to hold him and Should be Illegal off in the stretch. The most impressive part of this performance was that before the race, he got loose and ran off for a quarter mile– you rarely ever see horses win after doing that. Jockey Frank Alvarado and trainer Quinn Howey teamed up for the win here. Foreign Protocol is by Raison d’Etat and was sold for 32k at the FT Santa Anita Sale. Ajourneytofreedom ran on for 5th after not showing any speed early. There are definitely some positives to take heading into his next race. He ran on decently in the lane and had a strong gallop out to go with it. Also, he is by Hard Spun and is out of a dam that is a 1/2 to a French Oaks winner– the further the better for him!
A strong Allowance race on the turf ended the card, and it was taken wire-to-wire by the 4yo son of Many Rivers, River Rose. He set honest enough splits of 23.73 for the 1/4 and 47.86 for the 1/2, but with the rail being out at 20ft, it made it harder for those coming from off the pace. The top 2 (River Rose and Chosen Vessel) went 1-2 the whole way around. Hardboot came on for 3rd, and the favorite Incredible Luck finished 4th. River Rose earned his 3rd win from 10 lifetime starts, and is trained by Ellen Jackson and ridden by Cristobal Herrera.
Full results/ charts for Sunday
Next week is closing week for the Summer Meet at Golden Gate Fields. There is a 100k guaranteed pool for Sunday’s late p4, so make sure to get involved in that. If you haven’t already, please follow @NorCalHRNews on twitter for all the latest news on horse racing in Northern California.
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