Game On Dude
 

His last two races are WAY better than anything he has ever run...and that's saying a lot for a horse who was previously a post time BC Classic favorite.

Baffert has him incredibly good right now. Crazy to see such a top class horse actually peaking at age six.

Chantal had an organism on TVG

Mike Smith knows to give him an aggressive ride.

I thought it was Game on Dude's performance that explained Chantal's reaction until I read LWM's post, now I'm not so sure.

Really is too bad he didn't fire in the Classic. He probably would have been HOY.

I don't know about what would have been last year ... but he's better this year.

Here were the Big Cap figs coming into the race today:



He might have run back to that 99 today. His last two performances have been alarming.

Looked scary good when uncontested today. Wow.

Mike Smith made sure he was uncontested by aggressively cutting over and forcing his only pace rival Handsome Mike to shuffle back. You love that move every time, so long as you can get away with it.

Probably not wise to unnecessarily flirt with a DQ though.

No idea for how long he will hold this current form, but Game On Dude could wind up being one of these geldings who hangs around at the top levels for a long time. Fellow Awesome Again gelding Awesome Gem won his only career Grade 1 at age seven when he took the Hollywood Gold Cup.

The female family of Game On Dude is especially sturdy as well.

* His dam Worldly Pleasure (by Devil His Due) won 8 of 31 lifetime starts. She finished 8th beaten 34 lengths in a maiden claiming race at Laurel in her debut. Took six tries to break her maiden, did so in a maiden claiming race at Pimlico. Eventually won a minor stake race. She was a very bad gate horse. She unseated Ramon Dominguez at the break once, as a 4/5 favorite. On numerous instances had gate problems.

* Game On Dude's 2nd dam Fast Pleasure won 10 of 42 career starts. She also needed six tries to break her maiden, before doing so in $8,500 maiden claiming race at Laurel. She raced more than a dozen times with "no whip" She apparently hated the whip.

* Game On Dude's 3rd dam was 7 of 47 lifetime. This one needed eight tries before she finally broke her maiden. She eventually was multiple stakes placed and competed in some tough allowance races at Santa Anita.

That's an anti precocious pedigree on top of being a sturdy one. Game On Dude was 9/1 in the Florida Derby by just his third career start and was a 4th place finisher in the Belmont Stakes by his 6th career start.

His sire Awesome Again didn't break his maiden until June of his 3yo season and he improved a whole lot from age 3 to age 4.



It sure would have been fun to see Awesome Again come back and race as a 5-year-old.

Its funny how Awesome Again going in to the 98 BC Classic on a 5 race win streak wasn't even second choice in that field. Goes to show how deep that field was in that Classic. Possibly the best ever assembled.

It was a great field.

Awesome Again was part of an entry with Coronado's Quest (that years Haskell and Travers winner) and Touch Gold (who won the Belmont Stakes and Haskell at age 4)

Think about that, 4.7-to-1 odds on a trio that included Awesome Again in search of a perfect season + Coronado's Quest (10-for-15 lifetime and a multiple Grade 1 winner going into the race) + Touch Gold

I bet if they ran that race 5 times, there would probably be 5 different winners each time.

I bet if they ran that race an infinite number of times, Dettori would've switched the stick to his right hand

Im not a believer in Game on Dude vs the real top class horses, but I will admit he is good in races like this. All it takes for him is for another classy horse thats up or near to him then he is ready to pack it in. But when left alone and allowed to run the way he runs he looks like a super horse. Too bad this horse only can go one way and can win one way

Who are the 'real top class horses' you speak of? Curious.

I don't understand how that wasn't even looked at, considered, no jockeys claim of foul, objection...nothing.

Drosselmeyer

mucho, fort larned, flat out and ron the greek. If they were all to run again I would rate Game on behind those

I guess this race is happening at Belmont......................:rolleyes:

Ron the Greek that he just drubbed?

I wish, i dont think we will Game on Dude outside of Southern California anymore.