Pleasanton: City Route seems a cut above in Juan Gonzalez

City Route has several advantages over her rivals in Saturday’s $50,000 Juan Gonzalez Memorial Stakes at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, Calif. She is the only stakes winner in the field of six 2-year-old California-bred fillies; she appears to have the most speed in the race; and she drew the outside post, which should allow jockey Kevin Krigger to ease her to the front in the 5 1/2-furlong race.

City Route has gone wire to wire in both career starts. She won her May 19 debut over the Tapeta at Golden Gate Fields by 5 1/2 lengths and then dominated males in the five-furlong Lost in the Fog June 11 at Golden Gate, winning by 2 1/4 lengths and earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 75. She should be heavily favored in the Juan Gonzalez, which will be her first start on dirt.

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, who bred and owns the filly with his wife, Janet, George Todaro and Erik Amlie, said he considered waiting to run City Route at Del Mar, but the filly has shown him in her works that she is ready to race now.

“The timing is good, and she’s ready to go,” he said.

City Route is by graded stakes winner Globalize out of Mood Route, who had 4 wins and 3 seconds in 10 starts while earning $104,960. Hollendorfer trained both Globalize and Mood Route, and City Route is Mood Route’s first foal.

City Route will face four last-out winners: Attack the Jack, who won a $25,000 maiden claimer here on opening day; Joseph Joe, a $40,000 maiden-claiming winner on the Cushion Track at Hollywood Park; Attracta, a private purchase by trainer Billy Morey after a two-furlong win at Golden Gate Fields; and Heleonor Rugby, coming off a Hollywood Park maiden victory.

Attracta wound up preparations for this race with a 1:14.80 six-furlong drill Sunday. Morey is hopeful Attracta will like the distance and the pace scenario in the Juan Gonzalez.

“You can’t tell much from two-furlong races, but she looks like she’ll like to go on,” he said. “We worked her six furlongs because there’s a lot of speed in the race, and we’d like to see her finish strong.”

Silent Sue is the only runner in the field besides City Route with stakes experience. She stalked the pace before fading to seventh in the June 11 Cinderella at Hollywood Park. Before that, she wired the field in a maiden race there.