Horse Racing: Golden Itiz takes Affirmed Handicap
Horse racing enthusiasts were enthralled at Hollywood Park Racetrack on Saturday as the track hosted the Annual Affirmed Handicap American Thoroughbred Grade III race event. Inaugurated in 1979 and named in honor of “Affirmed”, 1978 US Triple Crown Champion, purse for the race stood at 100,000 dollars.
Newcomer to the track and easily the least experienced three year old racing at the Affirmed Handicap, Golden Itiz took those winnings by half a length. Golden Itiz covered the 1 1/6 mile distance on Affirmed Handicap’s synthetic cushion track in 1:42:84. This win brought his winning streak to 3.
Into the first turn Golden Itiz, with Jockey Tyler Baze holding the reigns, was pushed outside as Skipshot moved in from the inside of the rail post attempting to take the lead but couldn’t make the tight turn. As Skipshot went wide, Golden Itiz was pushed towards the outside with him opening up a gap wide enough for Ranger Hartley to push through and take the lead. Hartley in the lead, Skipshot and Golden Itiz neck and neck in pursuit as the Gallant Gent takes the lead entering the stretch.
Golden Itiz out classed the competition with his performance on the track. Tyler Baze and Ron Ellis, his trainer, were both very pleased with his performance. “He’s going to be one of those horses that really guts it out every time,” Ellis said. Ellis believed that Golden Itiz was facing difficulties as the Colt approached the quarter pole. Ellis was initially concerned that Skipshots move in from the inside had left Golden Itiz “a little deep,” but his fears were allayed as Golden Itiz entered into the straights. “He knew what he was doing,” Ellis said.
Out of the turn it was Ranger Hartley in the lead, Skipshot in second place followed by Gallant Gent in third place and Golden Itiz in fourth. Skipshot started to edge ahead of the group with Jockey Joe Talamo but couldn’t maintain his leading position as Golden Itiz caught upto and galloped ahead of Skipshot. "He had everything his own way. I just got outrun," Talamo said after he finished in second place.
Golden Itiz finished the race taking first place and winning his stakes debut at his fourth race start. Golden Itiz has won 3 of 4 starts and $118,080.
Ellis said that the plan to get his favored Colt to certain stakes races had worked. “You like to think they're going to be good enough to do certain stakes races when you have them and you think they're that good.” Ellis was extremely satisfied with the turnout of the race. He added that things fell into place for Golden Itiz and that the race was a learning experience for him.
Expressing similar sentiments, Jockey Tyler Baze had nothing but praise for Golden Itiz. Tyler believed that the Golden Itiz was maturing rapidly with each race and improving his performance. He further added that the previous races were easier in comparison and less of a challenge for the colt and himself. “Today was more of a learning experience for him,” he added. Baze said that after the first turn Golden Itiz “settled in so nice.” Golden Itiz put in a lot of effort into the race and responded well to Baze. “It was just a matter of when I wanted to pull the trigger,” he said. Baze said that from the first time he rode Golden Itiz he knew that the colt was out of the ordinary and was expecting great things from him.
Ellis boasted of his 3 year olds ability and mind set. “I think he's got an even better mind,” Ellis said after a great performance on the race track. “It looks like the Swaps is next” Said Ellis confirming that he would take Golden Itiz to the $200,000 Swaps stakes on July seventeenth.
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