Game On Dude targeting Gold Cup at Santa Anita

ARCADIA, Calif. – Game On Dude, the winner of a record three runnings of the Santa Anita Handicap and 11 other stakes, will have his next race June 28 in the $500,000 Gold Cup at Santa Anita, trainer Bob Baffert said Friday.

The Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita is run over 1 1/4 miles and was previously run as the Hollywood Gold Cup at Hollywood Park, which closed in December.

Game On Dude, 7, won the Hollywood Gold Cup in 2012 and 2013 and was second in the 2011 running. A win in the Gold Cup at Santa Anita would equal the record of three Gold Cup wins by Native Diver (1965-67) and Lava Man (2005-07), all of which occurred at Hollywood Park.

Baffert said Game On Dude is unlikely to run in the $200,000 Californian Stakes over 1 1/8 miles on May 31 as a prep for the Gold Cup.

Owned by Bernie Schiappa, Joe Torre, Debbie Lanni, and Mercedes Stable, Game On Dude was second to Imperative in the $1.5 million Charles Town Classic in West Virginia on April 19. Imperative, trained by George Papaprodromou at Santa Anita, is another candidate for the Gold Cup.

Game On Dude has not worked since the Charles Town Classic. The gelding has won 16 of 32 starts and earned $6,408,893.

“He’s just jogging now,” Baffert said. “I’ve got some time.”