Breeders' Cup Insights Brought to You By Twinspires: Who Did He Beat?
Game On Dude charges home to win the Santa Anita Handicap
It’s been fun contributing to Paulick Report during the build up to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. I’d like to think we’ve had no secrets. You’ve known from the beginning that Game On Dude is my pick to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic and secure Horse of the Year honors.
Having this opinion out there has warranted some criticism. He’s unlikely to offer value in the win pool, and his race last year was dreadful.
But his races this year have been nothing short of sensational, and his Santa Anita Handicap and Pacific Classic are in the top three of performances this year along with Wise Dan’s Woodbine Mile.
Still, there are doubters, and it goes beyond the lack of a Classic win for America’s top main track horse the past two years or Racing Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s poor showing last year. People are willing to talk about this year, and when they do they don’t talk they ask.
“Who’d he beat?” everyone wants to know of Game On Dude’s five wins, three of them in Grade 1 competition going 1 ¼ miles on three different surfaces at three different tracks.
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“Who’d he beat?”
I could answer that with Ron The Greek, a two-time loser against Game On Dude this year who trounced the Jockey Club Gold Cup field but is a scratch for that race, but rather, when people ask me who Game On Dude beat I answer with a question of my own.
“You know who Flat Out didn’t beat? He didn’t beat Alpha.”
Alpha won the Woodward Stakes on the East Coast this year, and there isn’t a doubt in my mind that Alpha wouldn’t have sniffed Game On Dude in any of his wins this year.
Don’t come to me with questions of Kettle Corn or Clubhouse Ride’s talent level when Alpha is winning Grade 1 races on the circuit you prefer.
So, I’m sticking with Game On Dude, and hopefully after Saturday I’ll have a better answer to the question, “Who’d he beat?”
