San Francisco Mile, Five Additional Stakes Top Gold Rush Weekend Saturday

Posted On 28 Apr 2022

By Matt Dinerman —-

SAN FRANCISCO MILE, FIVE ADDITIONAL STAKES TOP GOLD RUSH WEEKEND SATURDAY AT GOLDEN GATE FIELDS

Berkeley, Calif. (April 27, 2022)-Six stakes races highlighted by the $250,000 Grade 3 San Francisco Mile kicks off 2022 Gold Rush Weekend at Golden Gate Fields this Saturday, April 30. Gold Rush Weekend, run this Saturday and Sunday, May 1, is the biggest racing weekend of the year in Northern California.

The first of six stakes on Saturday’s 12-race card goes as Race 6, the $100,000 California Derby for 3-year-olds. Six sophomores are slated to travel one mile and a sixteenth on the main track Tapeta. Southern California stakes winner and Grade 3 placed Cabo Spirit is the class of the race, shipping north for trainer George Papaprodromou. Northern California stakes winner Boise and multiple allowance winner Il Capitano are other noteworthy contenders.

Race 7 is the $75,0000 Golden Poppy Stakes for fillies and mares 3-year-olds and upward at one mile and a sixteenth on turf. Although stabled in Southern California, Avenue de France has already won a pair of stakes races in Northern California and seeks her third for trainer Leonard Powell. Another multiple Bay Area stakes winner is Sloane Garden, who is reportedly making her final racing appearance for leading Golden Gate trainer Jonathan Wong. Well-bred Bubbles On Ice and stakes placed Clockstrikestwelve are also notable players in the first leg of the Golden Pick Six jackpot wager.

Race 8, the $75,000 California Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at one-mile and a sixteenth on Tapeta, drew 9 entrants. Eye-catching maiden winners My Kentucky Girl and Sparka face tougher company while impressive allowance winners Anthony’s Cleopatra and Music Festival seek their first career stakes victory. Three Southern California entrants add appeal to the race: Exactly Wendy, She’s Bulletproof and She’s Got A Way.

The signature contest of the day is Race 9, the Grade 3 $250,000 San Francisco Mile for 3-year-olds and upward at one mile on turf. The race drew a full field of 14. Among the graded stakes winners in the field are Get Her Number (Grade 1 winner), Delaware (Grade 3 winner), Ecrivain (Grade 3 winner), Freeport Joe (Grade 3 winner), Nolde (Grade 2 winner) and Restrainedvengence (Grade 3 winner, Grade 1 placed). Minor stakes winners Camino Del Paraiso, Indian Peak, Jimmy Blue Jeans and Vanzzy are also signed up to compete.

Race 10 is the Lost in the Fog Stakes, which attracts some of the fastest sprinters on the grounds. The 6-furlong affair had 10 contenders go through the entry box. Among the major players are 2-time Lost in the Fog Stakes champion Anyportinastorm, three-time Golden Gate stakes winner Bettor Trip Nick and Washington State champion Top Executive.

The last of the stakes events on Saturday is Race 11, the Camillo Urso for fillies and mares 3-years-old and upward on turf. The 5-furlong dash drew an oversubscribed field of 12. Ten will head post ward on Saturday, with the last 2 entrants on the also-eligible list in hopes of drawing into the race pending a late scratch or two. The field is a contentious group, attracting stakes winners Dynasty of her Own and Rebalation, Southern California invader Rakassah, and win machine Sadie Bluegrass.

Racing will be conducted Friday through Sunday this week at Golden Gate. On Friday, 9 races kick off the racing week with first post at 1:15 PM PT. That afternoon, there is a guaranteed pool in the Late Pick 5 (Races 5-9) of $50,000 and a guaranteed pool in the Late Pick 4 (Races 6-9) of $100,000.

The Late Pick 5 pools on Saturday and Sunday are guaranteed at $100,000 while the Late Pick 4 sequences on Saturday and Sunday have guaranteed pools of $200,000. Sunday will offer a large card of races-either 11 or 12-including a pair of California-bred or sired turf stakes for 3-year-olds. The Golden Gate Sunday card, also Day 2 of Gold Rush Weekend, will be drawn Thursday afternoon. First post on Sunday is to be announced.

About The Stronach Group and 1/ST

The Stronach Group is a world-class technology, entertainment and real estate development company with Thoroughbred horseracing and pari-mutuel wagering at the core. The company’s consumer facing brand 1/ST (pronounced “First”) powers The Stronach Group’s forward-thinking 1/ST RACING, 1/ST CONTENT, 1/ST TECHNOLOGY, 1/ST LIVE and 1/ST PROPERTIES businesses, while advocating for and driving the 1/ST HORSE CARE mission. 1/ST represents The Stronach Group’s continued movement toward redefining Thoroughbred racing and the ecosystem that drives it. 1/ST RACING drives the best-in-class horseracing operations at the company’s premier racetracks and training centers including: Santa Anita Park, Golden Gate Fields and San Luis Rey Downs (California); Gulfstream Park – home of the Pegasus World Cup Championship Invitational Series, and Gulfstream Park West (Florida); the Maryland Jockey Club at Laurel Park, Pimlico Race Course – home of the legendary Preakness Stakes, Rosecroft Raceway and Bowie Training Center (Maryland). 1/ST CONTENT is the newly formed operating group for all of 1/ST’s media and content companies including: Monarch Content Management, Elite, GWS and XBTV. 1/ST TECHNOLOGY is horseracing’s largest racing and gaming technology company offering world-class products via its AmTote, Xpressbet, 1/ST BET, XB SELECT, XB NET, PariMAX and Betmix brands. 1/ST LIVE blends the worlds of sports, entertainment and hospitality by delivering uniquely curated events such as InfieldFest and Pegasus LIV Stretch Village. 1/ST PROPERTIES is responsible for the development of the company’s live, work and play communities surrounding its racing venues including: The Village at Gulfstream Park (Florida) and Paddock Pointe (Maryland). As the advocate for critical industry reforms and by making meaningful investments into aftercare programs for retired horses and jockeys, 1/ST HORSE CARE represents The Stronach Group’s commitment to achieving the highest level of horse and rider care and safety standards in Thoroughbred horseracing on and off the track. For more information please visit www.1st.com.

**Correction: 2022 San Francisco Mile Draws Full Field With Contenders From North And South
Subject:
**Correction: 2022 San Francisco Mile Draws Full Field With Contenders From North And South
From:
“Golden Gate Fields Press Box”
Date:
4/27/2022, 8:27 PM

2022 SAN FRANCISCO MILE DRAWS FULL FIELD WITH CONTENDERS FROM NORTH AND SOUTH

Berkeley, Calif. (April 27, 2022)-The marquee race of the year at Golden Gate Fields, the $250,000 Grade 3 San Francisco Mile for 3-year-olds and upward at one mile on turf, drew a full field of 14 early Wednesday afternoon. The race, one of six stakes to be contested on Saturday, April 30, will go as the ninth event on an enticing 12-race program.

Grade I winner Get Her Number is one of two contenders entered for Southern California conditioner Ruben Alvarado. Get Her Number, to be ridden by Evin Roman for the first time, won the Grade I American Pharoah Stakes as a 2-year-old at Santa Anita and most recently defeated a salty bunch of second level allowance sprinters on turf. The other Alvarado trainee is Indian Peak, whose best career effort came at the one-mile and a sixteenth distance when finishing third in the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap at Del Mar last year. Earlier this winter, the California-bred placed second in the Grade 3 San Simeon Stakes.

Trainer Richard Baltas won last year’s San Francisco Mile with Whisper Not and the 2020 edition campaigning Neptune’s Storm. Seeking a three-peat, Baltas sends up Vanzzy, a Grade 3 placed 5-year-old who won the Jersey Derby at Monmouth Park in 2020. Most recently, the son of Verrazano won a third-level Santa Anita allowance race on March 25 with jockey Joe Bravo, who retains the mount in the ‘Mile.

Ecrivain finished third behind Vanzzy on March 25 and makes his second career start in North America for Hall of Famer Richard Mandella. Beginning his career in France in 2019, Ecrivain won a pair of Group 3’s and competed in a trio of Group 1 races overseas. Making his second start off a layoff, he is expected to be in peak condition. Ecrivain will be ridden for the first time by 2021 Eclipse Champion Apprentice jockey Jessica Pyfer.

Restrainedvengence completed the trifecta in the Grade I Big Ass Fans Breeders Cup Dirt Mile last fall and makes his second start off a layoff in the San Francisco Mile for trainer Val Brinkerhoff. This is his third appearance in the San Francisco Mile, finishing fourth in 2020 and third in 2021. Regular pilot Edwin Maldonado is slated to ride once again.

Other Southern California shippers include Evening Sun and Tiz Plus, the top two finishers in a second level allowance race at Santa Anita on March 11, and Delaware, a Group 3 winner in Europe and a minor stakes victor in America. Delaware began his North American campaign with East Coast based trainer Chad Brown and currently resides on the West Coast with Paddy Gallagher.

A quintet of local contenders play ball for the “home team.” The racer with the strongest resume is undoubtedly Camino Del Paraiso, a four-time stakes winner at Golden Gate for trainer O.J Jauregui. The 9-year-old veteran finished as the runner up in the Unusual Heat Turf Classic for California-breds at Santa Anita earlier this year and finished third in the 2020 San Francisco Mile.

Freeport Joe won the Grade 3 Berkeley Handicap in November and a pair of open allowance races immediately following the graded stakes triumph. His last two races have resulted in losses. He seeks to rebound for local trainer Gloria Haley, who employs Ruben Fuentes to ride for the first time.

Nolde may have the most peculiar storyline out of any horse in the race. Owned by Jerry Moss and conditioned by local trainer Steve Sherman, the son of Pioneerof the Nile has not been seen since an off-the-board finish in the 2019 Twilight Derby at Santa Anita. In the summer of that year, Nolde was victorious in the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby. Nolde has posted several fast workouts leading up to his 2022 debut and will be guided by Northern California mainstay jockey Pedro Terrero.

California-bred stakes winner Jimmy Blue Jeans, stakes placed Tom’s Surprise and multiple allowance winner Harmon round out the list of locals.

Saturday’s 12-race program kicks off at approximately 1:15 PM PT. Starting with the San Francisco Mile, the Late Pick 4 sequence consists of Races 9-12, the last four races of the day. The total pool for the Late Pick 4 is guaranteed at $200,000 while the Late Pick 5 pool (Races 8-12) is guaranteed at $100,000.

Race 9: The $250,000 Grade 3 San Francisco Mile (for 3-year-olds and upward at one mile on turf)

1. Freeport Joe (Jockey Ruben Fuentes…Trainer Gloria Haley)

2. Indian Peak (Irving Orozco…Ruben Alvarado)

3. Harmon (Julien Couton…Monty Meier)

4. Vanzzy (Joe Bravo…Richard Baltas)

5. Jimmy Blue Jeans (Assael Espinoza…Andy Mathis)

6. Evening Sun (Brice Blanc…Jeff Mullins)

7. Tiz Plus (Jose Valdivia Jr…Mike Puype)

8. Delaware (William Antongeorgi III…Paddy Gallagher)

9. Camino Del Paraiso (Catalino Martinez…O.J. Jauregui)

10. Nolde (Pedro Terrero…Steve Sherman)

11. Restrainedvengence (Edwin Maldonado…Val Brinkerhoff)