The 2yos take center stage on Saturday at Golden Gate Fields as a competitive field of 6 line up in the $50,000 6f Golden Nugget Stakes. Some formidable Southern California shippers are heading North to take on a solid Northern California contingent. This race has been primarily dominated by horses based in Northern California, but 2 of the past 3 winners have had their prior race at Santa Anita. This is a fun stake and I am going to analyze each runner in the field.
Here is a list of the past 5 Golden Nugget Stakes winners:
2018- Tivan
2017- Runaway Ghost
2016- Righthand Man
2015- Code Warrior
2014- Stalk the Wildcat
1- Call Me Peppy (Gonzalez/ Psarras): Took some money on debut and ran a decent 2nd at Pleasanton. Came out of that to run a distant 7th behind Bulletproof One in the Everett Nevin Stakes. Got outpaced early in those sprint races, so went 2 turns in start #3 to break his maiden in a 1m off-the-turf race at Santa Rosa. Sat a perfect trip that day and powered home well in the stretch behind a speed duel. 3-month layoff here. Looks like a router. Maybe trying to set him up for the Gold Rush Stakes next month?
2- Doc Tommy (Hernandez/ Sadler): Last-out winner is coming off a 3 month layoff. After he broke his maiden by 4-lengths in front running fashion at Golden Gate Fields, he was privately purchased and moved to John Sadler’s barn in Southern California. Been working steadily down there and should be fit for this. Has a lot of natural speed, and you have to figure he will be in the mix early here.
3- Blaisin’ Eamon (Alvarado/ Specht): Son of US Ranger has improved in all three of his lifetime starts based on speed figures. Was really against the bias on debut at Santa Rosa and still ran a good 3rd. Came out of that to break his maiden emphatically by 5 lengths over today’s track and distance. Then was last seen running behind stablemate Misirlou in an Allowance race. He set a very quick pace while dueling on the inside that day. Held on well in the stretch for 3rd and still had a big gallop out. Been forced to send in his last 2 races because he’s had to break from the inside. Works have been steady and fits on numbers.
4- Fore Left (Antongeorgi/ O’Neill): Southern California shipper is the likely favorite and is by far the class of the field. Won the 150k Tremont back in June at Belmont and was 3rd in the G2 Best Pal at Del Mar. Last out he won the 70k Sunny Slope Stakes at Santa Anita in a gate-to-wire score. His sire is Twirling Candy, so the synthetic surface should be no problem for him based on pedigree. Has a lot of speed, but doesn’t necessarily need the lead– gives Antongeorgi some options.
5- Bettor Trip Nick (Martinez/ Delia): Son of Boat Trip has progressed nicely– he broke his maiden in a 25k mcl on debut and then 2 starts later won a STR50 race by 2 1/2 lengths. Has a lot of speed and it will be interesting to see what he does from post 5. Is close on numbers but this is a big step up in class.
6- No Longer Silent (Frey/ Wong): Coming off a dominant 7-length Allowance score on October 19th. Took command of the race early that day and opened up on the field as the odds-on favorite. Ran 2nd in the Misirlou race on September 29th and finished 3/4 of a length ahead of Blaisin’ Eamon– showed in that race that he doesn’t need the lead. Has a perfect post here and can stay outside the speed. His trainer Jonathan Wong is rolling right now and should have No Longer Silent ready to fire. The son of Minister’s Wildcat is progressing well and has improved in all 4 starts.
Pace scenario:
It will be interesting to see how the pace shapes up, as 5 of the 6 horses in here have speed. While Doc Tommy is coming off a 3-month layoff, it appears that he is the quickest from the gate– his hand is likely forced to send since he’s breaking from post 2. Blaisin’ Eamon could shadow Doc Tommy away from the gate and sit close in 2nd. Fore Left will probably have to rate just off the speed here. With the speed to their inside, I think Bettor Trip Nick and No Longer Silent will sit off of it on the outside. Call Me Poppy doesn’t have the early speed of these and will be out the back.
Selections: 3-6-4-2
#3 Blaisin’ Eamon (6/1)– I thought his last was better than looked and he should take a step forward in this spot. Tactical running style should help. Good value.
#6 No Longer Silent (5/2)– Got the best draw and Frey will be able to place him wherever he wants. Progressive type that’s coming off big win.
#4 Fore Left (6/5)– By far the class of the field. Has had a testing campaign this year. Short price. Pedigree to handle the tapeta.
#2 Doc Tommy (3/1)– Layoff, but Sadler should have him ready and could definitely move him up. Will be up front with a clean break and is going to try to hold everyone off.
NorCal Horse Racing News 