You could call it the Triple Crown of southern California racing, and after a dominating win in the $1,000,000 Grade I TVG Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Sunday, Game On Dude is wearing it. It was Game On Dude’s fifth straight win of the 2013 season, including wins in the other two big SoCal events for older horses, the Santa Anita Handicap and the Hollywood Gold Cup. And he took this one in style, going to the front and staying there.
Starting just to the outside of expected front-runner Delegation, Game On Dude let that one go by and angled quickly to the rail and then was allowed to run easy on the lead, before being asked to quicken to a 24 second third-quarter mile. From there, Game On Dude simply pulled away, leaving a trailing pack to battle of the rest of the money. The winning margin was a Pacific Classic record of 8 ½ lengths, with Kettle Corn finishing second, and 41-1 shot You Know I Know getting up for third.
For winning jockey Martin Garcia, picking up the mount on Game On Dude was a piece of good fortune. With regular rider Mike Smith riding in Saratoga, trainer Bob Baffert had named Joel Rosario to ride, but when he was injured in a race on Friday, Baffert turned to Garcia. Game On Dude now has 15 wins in 27 lifetime starts, with 12 of those being graded-stakes wins. He now has a guaranteed entry to the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday, November 2, 2013 at Santa Anita, a race where he finished second in 2011.
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