Game on Dude romps to a massive victory in the Californian Stakes
It is a general thought that usually after a disappointing unplaced finish, a horse has to take one or two races to get his stride right, but the philosophy doesn’t stand correct for the imposing dark bay gelding, Game on Dude, who after a disappointing
trip to the Middle East this March came roaring back to claim the Grade 2 Californian Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park on 2 June, 2012.
The field was small, but competitive, because it had the 5-year-old Tiznow horse, Morning Line, exiting a decisive victory in the Grade 2 Mervyn Leroy Handicap over at Hollywood Park’s cushion track, downing the eventual Californian starters, Prayer For
Relief in second and Kettle Corn in third.
However, John A. Shirreffs trained Morning Line completed the order of finish in the Californian Stakes, as Kettle Corn finished second and Prayer For Relief third.
It was an easy win for Game on Dude, who was back over the poly track to improve his record on it, and he successfully did with his partner, Chantal Sutherland aboard.
Bred in Kentucky by Adena Springs, Game on Dude drew the inside post, and after breaking from the rail, the Awesome Again gelding didn’t waste much time as he loped straight to the lead.
The attempt to steal the lead from Game on Dude came from, Morning Line, who was in close contact with the leader for the first six furlongs, but Game on Dude started detaching from the field almost at will, as he toyed with the small field and pranced to
the wire.
The victory reflected in the image of what Game on Dude did in the entire race, winning it by a massive margin of 7 ¼ lengths to second placed, Kettle Corn with the final time of 1 minute and 48.01 seconds.
Zayat Stables owned, Prayer For Relief, needs to break his seven race losing streak, where he has more often than not managed placed finishes, but lacked the killing blow in the end.
On the other hand, Kettle Corn is enjoying his step up in class from allowance/optional’s to stakes races.
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