ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) — Game On Dude held off the closing bid of Awesome Gem to win the $250,000 Goodwood Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday, earning his first victory since March 5 and giving him a berth in next month’s Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert went 1-3 in the Grade 1 race, with Coil finishing third.
Game On Dude ran 1 1-8 miles in 1:47.36 under Chantal Sutherland, who was aboard when the 4-year-old gelding survived a rough race and stewards’ inquiry to win the Santa Anita Handicap. Since then, Game On Dude was winless in four races.
Pacific Classic winner Acclamation, who drew the rail in the Goodwood, was scratched to run in Sunday’s Clement L. Hirsch Stakes on the turf.