Hudson Landing wins third straight in Alcatraz

ALBANY, Calif. - Hudson Landing ($7.60) notched his third straight victory Saturday by winning the $60,000 Alcatraz Stakes at Golden Gate Fields.

Hudson Landing sat off the pace, avoiding early trouble in the 1 1/16-mile turf race. He made a strong move while moving three wide on the second turn and put his head in front at the eighth pole.

He proved best in a four-way sprint to the wire, defeating Dream Nettie by three-quarters of a length. Leroy's Dynameaux lost second by a nose but was three-quarters of a length in front of pacesetting Excessive Passion. The race was run in 1:43.00.

Excessive Passion bobbled leaving the gate but grabbed the lead and was all alone down the backstretch when Our Minesweeper bolted on the first turn, carrying Karmalize out with him.

Excessive Passion cruised on the uncontested lead and dug in when challenged on the turn by Leroy's Dynameaux.

"I was loving it watching the horses up front," winning rider Russell Baze said. "Not only were they going fast, they were going out to the middle of the course.

"All I was worried about after the first eighth-mile was clocking Dream Nettie, because I figured he was the horse I had to outrun. My horse kind of eased up a little bit when we first got to the lead, but he dug in when I got after him."

Trained by Billy Morey, Hudson Landing made seven starts in New York and Florida before joining Billy Morey's barn at Golden Gate Fields. He has won three straight for Morey. He earned $36,000 in the Alcatraz, increasing his career earnings to $93,224.