Golden Gate Fields: Gallant Son remains king of local sprinters by taking Oakland
Gallant Son completed a sweep of Golden Gate Fields’ sprint stakes, taking advantage of a perfect trip to pull away from eight rivals in the lane to win the $50,850 Oakland Stakes on Saturday.
Jockey Isaias Enriquez put Gallant Son ($13.40) in perfect position behind a three-way pace battle among Moonshine Bay, favored Ain’t No Other, and Coach Bob down the backstretch. The 7-year-old Gallant Son maintained his position on the turn while saving ground.
As the field turned for home, Gallant Son surged along the rail and quickly opened a one-length lead on Moonshine Bay. He continued strongly to the wire, winning the six-furlong race by 2 1/2 lengths over late-closing Administer, who was a half-length in front of Moonshine Bay. Winning time was 1:09.03.
"It was the perfect trip," said Enriquez. "He broke on top, and I took a hold. When those three horses got out in front of him, I thought 'Wow, this is perfect.'
"He was very powerful today. I was very confident."
Gallant Son won the six-furlong Albany in February. After running third in the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile on April 27, he went to the sidelines.
Trainer Frank Lucarelli had him ready for his return on Oct. 20 when he won a three-way photo over Moonshine Bay and Administer, and he ran even better Saturday.
"He's still got some run in him," said Lucarelli. "There are some small stakes for him down south."
Owned by Randall and Rossi LLC, Gallant Son earned $30,550 for his 10th victory in 37 starts and passed the half-million dollar mark in earnings with $508,078.