Game On Dude lays it down in Grade 1 Goodwood

The $250,000 Goodwood S. (G1) may not have set up the way Bob Baffert envisioned it, but Game On Dude was up to the task despite dueling through very fast early fractions, going on to a well-earned half-length victory in Santa Anita Park’s main prep race for the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) Nov. 5 at Churchill Downs.

Baffert and jockey Chantal Sutherland figured to be alone on the lead early in the 1 1/8 mile contest, but Tres Borrachos zipped out of the gate, and Game On Dude took up the chase. The duo raced through a half mile in a lively :45.28 seconds, with the rest of the field some five lengths behind. After six furlongs in 1:09.03, Tres Borrachos began to wilt from the pressure, but the eventual winner kicked clear in mid-stretch. Awesome Gem loomed a danger in the final furlong, but Game On Dude dug in to get to the wire in front, finishing in 1:47.36.

“I told Chantal to have the lead at all costs, and I thought down the backside I shouldn’t have said ‘all costs,’ ” Baffert said. “She rides the horse with a lot of confidence. You just have to let him run like that because that’s the way he wants to run.”

Game On Dude, 4,  has now won all three of his starts on the main track at Santa Anita, including his signature win in the $750,000 million Santa Anita H. (G1) this spring. Overall, he has won five times in 13 starts and is owned by a partnership that includes Bernie Schiappa, Ernie Moody, the estate of Terry Lanni, and former major league baseball manager Joe Torre.

“It was sort of an emotional win too because we just lost Terry Lanni, so the family was here and that had a lot to do with it,” Baffert said.

Baffert said Game On Dude would make his next start in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.