10/23/2021
A competitive field of 11 lined up in Saturday’s feature at Golden Gate Fields, which was a 25k Optional Claimer going 1 1/16m on the main track. The betting public landed on the consistent Friday’s At Shady who was sent off at odds of 7/2, however the winner would be 14/1 upsetter Wine and Whisky. Today he stalked behind pace setters Robber Baron and Descartes who set a taxing 1/2 in 47.78 and 3/4 in 1:12.08. He was able to pull past the 2 leaders deep in the stretch and had just enough to hold off the closers by 3/4 of a length. The 4yo son of Fullbridled was ridden by Cristobal Herrera and trained by Felix Rondan. Wine and Whisky covered 1 1/16m in 1:44.25. It seems like he is starting to figure things out as he has now won back to back races and posted the 4th win of his 24-start career. Southern California shipper Explosive finished well to be 2nd by a nose over tiring speed horse Descartes.
To touch on the 7th race (5f MSW for 2yo F) quickly, Ellamira was able to break her maiden in start number 2 for Steve Specht and Catalino Martinez. She broke much more alertly today than in her debut and found herself in the race a lot earlier. She got caught about 4 wide on the turn but was in the clear and able to make a strong move. In the stretch she sustained that run to win comfortably by 2 1/2 lengths. The Cole Ranch Partners homebred by Street Boss stopped the clock in 58.56 seconds. Ascendancy held on for second after showing speed early, and the other Steve Specht trainee Tam’s Little Angel ran on to be 3rd in her debut. Would have to think that we could possibly see Ellamira in a race like the Golden Gate Debutante next out.
All 9 races today were won by different jockeys.
Jonathan Wong makes it back to back days with a training double by winning race 2 with Mike Operator and race 6 with Short Rib.
Full results from today’s card https://www.equibase.com/static/chart/pdf/GG102321USA.pdf
There is a ton of bad weather in the forecast tomorrow so keep an eye out for updates on the card. The feature is an Allowance race for Fillies and Mares that features California Oaks winner Pizzaz– looking forward to that one!
Entries for tomorrow’s card https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=ONSC-GG-20211024D
Also, nominations for next week’s Stakes races have been announced and you can check them out here
75K Pike Place Dancer Nominations (10/30) https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SN-GG-20211030-573967
75K El Dorado Shooter Nominations (10/31) https://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbHorsemenAreaDownloadAction.cfm?sn=SN-GG-20211030-573967
Make sure to follow @NorCalHRNews on Twitter and Instagram for all of the latest updates on horse racing in Northern California.
NorCal Horse Racing News 