Gone Too Soon scores 28-1 surprise in Sydney Gendelman Memorial Handicap
Gone Too Soon, the longest shot among eight Ohio-breds at 28-1, came flying in the stretch to overtake odds-on favorite Mo Dont No in Saturday’s $75,000 Sydney Gendelman Memorial Handicap at Belterra Park.
A non-threatening fourth in last year’s Gendelman at 21-1 and fourth in his turf debut facing allowance company in May 2016, the 5-year-old Gone Too Soon ($58.20) was last after the first six furlongs and went seven wide turning for home. He came charging down the middle of the track under Juan Velez, quickly passing multiple horses, to defeat Mo Dont No, the 2016 Ohio-bred champion making his turf debut, by 1 3/4 lengths. Gliding Alone won a three-way photo for third by a neck at 26-1, completing a trifecta that paid $585.50 for 50 cents. The winning time for 1 1/16 miles on a firm course was 1:41.47.
It was the first win for trainer Robert Guciardo since Gone Too Soon won an allowance on Belterra’s main track last Oct. 12. A 5-year-old son of Belong to Me owned by Guciardo in partnership with Poe Racing Stable, Gone Too Soon is now 7 for 26 with a bankroll of $231,290.
Mo Dont No, sent off at 4-5, looked like a winner when he opened up a 1 1/2-length advantage approaching the turn for home and appeared to have turned back his closest challenger, Cake Pop, in midstretch, leading by a length at the eighth pole. But he got swallowed up by Gone Too Soon’s late surge and had to settle for his second runner-up finish in three starts this season.