Lammas surges for Berkeley Handicap victory

Lammas woke up at the right time in Saturday’s Grade 3 Berkeley Handicap at Golden Gate Fields.

“In the paddock, he had me kind of surprised,” trainer Manny Badilla said. “He was acting kind of sleepy.”

In the $100,000 Berkeley, Lammas closed from third in a field of five to win by 1 1/4 lengths over I’mgonnabesomebody. The Berkeley marked the first graded stakes win for Badilla, 65.

Ridden by Kevin Radke, Lammas stalked I’mgonnabesomebody through a steady early pace of 24.01 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 48 for a half-mile. Racing on the rail on the turn, Lammas challenged I’mgonnabesomebody in early stretch and led by a head with a furlong remaining.

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Lammas ($10.20) pulled away in the final sixteenth and finished 1 1/16 miles on the synthetic track in 1:42.42. Lammas earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 96.

“He ran huge,” Badilla said. “He shot through that hole and took off.”

I’mgonnabesomebody (3-1) finished a half-length in front of Freeport Joe, the even-money favorite. Freeport Joe rallied from last with a wide move on the turn to reach contention briefly, but never threatened Lammas.

Rip City and Tulsa Tornado completed the order of finish in the small field.

Lammas, a 5-year-old British gelding by the Dark Angel stallion Heeraat, races for Ron Charles and Samuel Gordon.

Lammas joined Badilla’s stable from England earlier this year, and has won 2 of 7 starts in this country. In England, Lammas won three modest races on all-weather tracks at Southwell and Wolverhampton racecourses.

Lammas won an allowance race on the synthetic track in September and was later fourth in the Bull Dog Stakes on dirt at Fresno on Oct. 16 and third behind I’mgonnabesomebody in the Joseph Grace Stakes on the synthetic track on Nov. 5.

Lammas has won 5 of 19 starts and earned $126,688.

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