Brickyard Ride leads all the way in Kona Gold Stakes

The Grade 3 Kona Gold Stakes at Santa Anita in April 2022 was the last of four consecutive stakes wins that season for Brickyard Ride, the veteran California sprinter.

This year’s Kona Gold Stakes on Saturday was Brickyard Ride’s first win since the 2022 running, and ended a two-race losing streak.

The win gave Brickyard Ride an eighth career stakes win and marked his return to a prominent role in the California sprint division.

Ridden by Juan Hernandez, Brickyard Ride ($3.60) led throughout the $100,000 Kona Gold Stakes, repelling a threat through the final furlong by Anarchist, the 9-5 second choice in a field of five.

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Brickyard Ride set a solid pace of 21.77 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 43.92 for a half-mile, leading by as many as 1 1/2 lengths. Anarchist, making his graded stakes debut on dirt, was within a length of Brickyard Ride with a furlong remaining and was beaten a half-length.

Brickyard Ride ran 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:15.84 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 95.

Hernandez said he felt a burst of speed from Brickyard Ride midway through the race.

“Around the three-eighths, he picked it up and that was the signal that he was ready to run,” Hernandez said. “I went ahead and let him open up a couple of lengths and I think that’s where he won the race.”

Anarchist finished 4 1/2 lengths clear of Positivity, who was followed by Armagnac and Trumped. Sunrise Journey was withdrawn in favor of a start in Sunday’s $100,000 Siren Lure Stakes for turf sprinters.

Brickyard Ride, a 6-year-old California-bred by Clubhouse Ride, races for owner and breeder Sonny Pais and trainer Craig Lewis.

The Kona Gold Stakes was Brickyard Ride’s second start of the year, preceded by a third in the Grade 3 San Simeon Stakes on the hillside turf course on March 5.

Last spring, Brickyard Ride followed his win in the Kona Gold Stakes with a fifth-place finish at 3-10 in the Grade 2 Triple Bend Stakes in May. Brickyard Ride was diagnosed with a bone chip in a knee following that race.

Brickyard Ride has won 13 of 25 starts and earned $816,977.

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