Dr Pescado's rally pays off with Golden Nugget triumph
Trainer Felix Rondan and jockey Pedro Terrero teamed for their second stakes victory of the Golden Gate Fields meeting Saturday when Dr Pescado ($9.40) stalked pacesetting Stanford Bay and rallied in the lane to win the $63,450 Golden Nugget Stakes.
The two had combined for a stunning upset with Vaping Angel, the longest shot on the board, earlier in the meet in the Pike Place Dancer for 2-year-old fillies.
As expected, Stanford Bay took the early lead in the six-furlong race, breaking sharply from the outside post. He set early fractions of 22.58 and 45.53.
Terrero sat in second but didn't really push the leader until the field turned for home.
“He's a nice horse, and (Torrero) gave him a nice ride,” Rondan said. “We wanted to be about two lengths back."
As the field straightened out into the lane, C'Mon Man, the 6-5 favorite, looked to be making a strong move along the rail but was discouraged by Stanford Bay, who was the second choice at 7-5.
But Terrero had Dr Pescado in gear outside Stanford Bay, and he was going the best even though he won the race by only one-half length, with C'Mon Man third another half-length farther back. The winning time was 1:11.51.
Dr. Pescado, a Fullbridled colt owned by Rondan and Ruben Arechiga, earned $39,250 for his second victory in three starts. The earner of $59,668 won his career debut by 7 1/4 lengths in front-running style before finishing fourth behind C'Mon Man in his second start.