Churchill Downs: Game On Dude gets rail for Clark

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Game On Dude drew post 1 as the 126-pound highweight in a field of nine in what has become a much-anticipated 139th running of the Grade 1 Clark Handicap on Friday at Churchill Downs.

Game On Dude, scheduled to arrive here Wednesday from California, will be rematched with Will Take Charge in the $500,000 Clark, which goes at 1 1/8 miles. Both horses exit the Breeders’ Cup Classic with widely disparate results: Game On Dude faded badly to finish ninth as the 8-5 favorite, while Will Take Charge barely missed victory when beaten a nose by Mucho Macho Man as an 8-1 chance.

Trainer Bob Baffert said Tuesday before leaving California for a brief Thanksgiving holiday with his wife Jill’s family in Tennessee that he has confidence Game On Dude will redeem himself. Unlike in the BC Classic, which was full of speed that may have compromised the early going style of Game On Dude, there appears to be a limited amount of opposing pace in the Clark, with only Our Double Play and Jaguar Paw – neither a graded stakes winner – having consistently shown early speed.

Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith will be back to ride Game On Dude.

“I’m just going to leave things up to Mike,” Baffert said. “Mikey knows. It’s not like I have to give him this long list of instructions.”

From the rail, this is the Clark lineup: Game On Dude, 126, Smith; Finnegans Wake, 116, Julien Leparoux; Bourbon Courage, 117, Corey Lanerie; Golden Ticket, 120, Robby Albarado; Prayer for Relief, 18, Ricardo Santana Jr.; Easter Gift, 116, Joel Rosario; Will Take Charge, 123, Luis Saez; Our Double Play, 113, Francisco Torres; and Jaguar Paw, 115, Shaun Bridgmohan.

Among the handful of fringe contenders, Easter Gift figures to draw some attention. He ships in from New York for Chad Brown after being scratched from the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.

“I think the time is right to take a shot with him,” Brown said. “He’s training well, and his best numbers would make him competitive.”

First post Friday is 12:40 p.m. Eastern, and with the Clark going as the 11th of 12 races, it will be run under the lights, as it has since 2010. Post time for the Clark is 5:35, with the last race going at 6:03. The forecast calls for dry conditions and a high temperature of just 45.