Saturday, October 11 2008

TRAINER LENZINI STRIKES AGAIN, WINS WITH TWO MORE LONGSHOTS

ALBANY -- Trainer Mike Lenzini struck again Friday at Golden Gate Fields, winning two races with long-shot runners.

Lenzini, who a week earlier won back-to-back races with horses that were the largest price on the tote board, won Friday's first race with 17-to-1 shot Topper's Smiling ($36.80) and the fifth with 20-to-1 shot Gorgeous Gibson ($43.00).

Lenzini, who has five wins at the fall meeting, was one of three trainers to saddle a pair of winners Friday.

Monday, October 06 2008

MONDAY GOLDEN GATE FIELDS

Jerry Hollendorfer and Russell Baze, Northern California's all time leading trainer and jockey, respectively, scored victories Sunday during the $13 million California Cup program Sunday hosted by the Oak Tree Racing Association at Santa Anita. Unlike so much of their success locally, however, the pair did not combine talents in either race.

Hollendorfer employed jockey Rafael Bejarano aboard Kool Comic to score a mild upset in the $50,000 Starter Sprint Handicap. Baze teamed with locally based Roger Hansen for an impressive front running tally aboard Kjell Qvale's Tribesman in the $150,000 California Cup Sprint.

Saturday, October 04 2008

LENZINI SADDLES THREE WINNERS AT GOLDEN GATE FIELDS

ALBANY -- Trainer Michael Lenzini won three races Friday at Golden Gate Fields, including back-to-back races with horses that were the longest shot in their fields.

Lenzini won the third race with the 2-year-old filly Mean Joleene, who paid $94.60 to win after going off at odds of 46-to-1. Lenzini then captured the fourth race with the 3-year-old gelding Way Speed, who returned $17.20 as the largest price in a scratch-plagued field of four.

Lenzini complete his training hat trick when Beamer Bee ($12.40) won the eighth race. The victories were Lenzini's first at the 2008 fall meeting as he entered the card 0-for-9.

Friday, October 03 2008

NOR CAL HORSES HIT ROAD FOR RICH STAKES THIS WEEKEND

Several Golden Gate Fields-based horses will compete in rich stakes races on the road this weekend and Northern California racing fans will be able to follow the local runners via simulcast.

The outstanding 3-year-old filly Indyanne is in Lexington, Kentucky, where she'll contest the $300,000 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes at Keeneland. A six-furlong dash for fillies and mares, the Thoroughbred Club of America is a "Win and You're In" event for the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, which will be run Oct. 24 at Santa Anita.

Indyanne, trained by Greg Gilchrist and owned by David and Jill Heerensperger, won her first four starts before running a troubled second in the Victory Ride Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 23. She'll break from the rail in the Thoroughbred Club of America and be ridden by Robby Albarado.

Monday, September 29 2008

BAZE RIDES FIVE WINNERS, MOREY HAS TRAINING TRIPLE

ALBANY -- Jockey Russell Baze rode five winners and trainer William E. Morey saddled three winners on Sunday's nine-race program at Golden Gate Fields.

Baze swept the first three races on the card while riding heavy favorites. The Hall of Famer won the first race with Big Red Tate ($3.80), the second with Twodollarstowin ($3.40), and the third with Candlestick Park ($4.40).

Baze also won the fifth race with favored Why Whynot ($5.00) and the ninth aboard 4-to-1 Noble Flight ($10.20). Through two weeks of racing at the 2008 fall meeting, Baze tops the jockey standings with 22 victories.

Saturday, September 27 2008

DELIGHTFUL KISS, BOREL TRIUMPH IN ALL AMERICAN STAKES AT GGF

ALBANY -- Delightful Kiss tuned up for the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships by posting an impressive victory in the $211,800 All American Stakes at Golden Gate Fields Saturday.

Ridden by Calvin Borel, Delightful Kiss won the 1 1/8-mile All American by one length over 3-to-5 favorite Awesome Gem in 1:49.54, a recording clocking on Golden Gate Fields' Tapeta racing surface.

Borel, making his first ride ever at Golden Gate Fields, rallied Delightful Kiss from last in a field of seven. A powerful gray gelding, Delightful Kiss inhaled the front-runners with a big move on the far turn and then outran Awesome Gem down the stretch to record his second straight stakes victory and his sixth win in 20 career starts.

CLASSY AWESOME GEM 8-TO-5 FAVORITE IN $200,000 ALL AMERICAN STAKES AT GGF

ALBANY -- The classy Awesome Gem, a 5-year-old gelding who has earned $1,179,882 in 19 career starts, has been made an 8-to-5 morning line favorite in the $200,000 All American Stakes at Golden Gate Fields.

The All American, a 1 1/8-mile contest for 3-year-olds and up, is the featured third race on a 10-race program that begins at 12:45 p.m. Fans attending the track Saturday will receive a free Golden Gate Fields sweatshirt.

Awesome Gem has competed in Grade 1 stakes in five of his last seven races and holds a tremendous class advantage over his six rivals in the Grade 3 All American. Although seventh in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic in his most recent outing, he was beaten less than five lengths by winner Go Between.

Friday, September 26 2008

BOREL, HERO OF THE 2007 KENTUCKY DERBY, WILL RIDE AT GOLDEN GATE FIELDS SATURDAY

ALBANY -- Jockey Calvin Borel, who captured the 2007 Kentucky Derby with a masterful ride aboard Street Sense, will be at Golden Gate Fields Saturday to ride Delightful Kiss in the $200,000 All American Stakes.

Borel rallied Street Sense from 19th in a field of 20 to win the 133rd edition of the Run For The Roses by 2 1/4 lengths over Hard Spun. Often dubbed "Bo-Rail" for his penchant to ride the inner rail to victory, Borel had Street Sense in ground-saving position throughout his electrifying Derby run.

Borel's heroics in the Kentucky Derby earned him an invitation to the White House for a white-tie dinner honoring Queen Elizabeth, who had attended her first Derby.

Thursday, September 25 2008

DELIGHTFUL KISS AMONG SEVEN ENTRANTS IN $200,000 ALL AMERICAN STAKES AT GGF

ALBANY -- Breeders' Cup bound Delightful Kiss will face six opponents Saturday at Golden Gate Fields in the $200,000 All American Stakes, the richest race of the fall season.

The Grade 3 All American will be run at 1 1/8-miles and Delightful Kiss is using the race as a prep for the $500,000 Breeders' Cup Marathon, a 1 1/2-mile contest that will have its inaugural running Oct. 25 at Santa Anita.

Delightful Kiss guaranteed himself a spot in the Breeders' Cup Marathon lineup by winning the Grade 3 Turfway Park Fall Championship on Sept. 6. A 1 1/2-mile race, the Fall Championship was a Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win And You're In" event.

Wednesday, September 24 2008

$200,000 ALL AMERICAN STAKES HIGHLIGHTS WEEK AT GGF

ALBANY -- The $200,000 All American Stakes, the richest race of the fall meeting and an event that at least one horse is using as a prep for the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, will be run Saturday at Golden Gate Fields.

A Grade 3 contest for 3-year-olds and up, the All American will be run at 1 1/8-miles on Golden Gate Fields' synthetic Tapeta racing surface. Entries for the race will be taken Wednesday.

Delightful Kiss, a 4-year-old gelding who has already earned a starting spot in the $500,000 Breeders' Cup Marathon that will be run Oct. 25 at Santa Anita, is among the horses set to run in the All American.

Monday, September 22 2008

BAZE, ALVARADO AND LANDEROS ENJOY A TWO-WIN SUNDAY AT GGF

ALBANY -- Jockeys Russell Baze, Frank Alvarado and Chris Landeros all had riding doubles at Golden Gate Fields Sunday.

Baze scored his victories with favorites, taking the seventh race aboard odds-on choice Fortified ($3.20) and the ninth with 8-to-5 selection Alex And Me ($5.20). Baze tops the jockey standings with 10 victories through the first week of action at the 2008 fall meeting.

Alvarado, who ranks second in the standings with six wins, posted his victories Sunday aboard horses that returned double-digit win payoffs. Alvarado won the first race with I'm a Soft Touch ($15.40) and the fifth with Talktoomuch ($12.60).

Saturday, September 20 2008

WILD PROMISES GUNS FOR FOURTH TRAIGHT STAKES VICTORY

ALBANY -- Wild Promises will gun for her fourth consecutive stakes victory Saturday when she takes on eight opponents in the $75,000 Miss America Stakes at Golden Gate Fields.

Wild Promises is a 9-to-5 favorite on the morning line to capture the Miss America, a 1 1/8-mile turf race for fillies and mares. Wild Promises will break from post position four and be ridden by David Lopez.

Trained by Greg Gilchrist, Wild Promises recorded her first stakes victory last May on the turf at Bay Meadows when she won the Mother's Day Handicap by a neck over Unspoken Word. She followed up that triumph with a front-running victory in the Yerba Buena Stakes on the Golden Gate Fields turf and then ran away to a six-length score in the Luther Burbank Handicap on the Santa Rosa turf.