Pleasanton: Everett Nevin, Juan Gonzalez help close out meet

Closing week of the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, Calif., began Thursday with the meet’s richest stakes, the $75,000 Casual Lies, and continues Saturday with the $50,000-added Everett Nevin Stakes for 2-year-olds and Sunday with the $50,000-added Juan Gonzalez Memorial Stakes for 2-year-old fillies.

Eight 2-year-old fillies, four winners and four maidens, were nominated to the 5 1/2-furlong Juan Gonzalez, which is Northern California’s first stakes race for 2-year-old fillies.

Among the nominees are Frisco Fog, who won Northern California’s first 2-year-old race of the year, Look Quickly, Purim Faith, and Side Letter.

The Everett Nevin, also at 5 1/2 furlongs, could see a rematch between Skydreamin and Tupelo Cush, who were separated by a head in the Lost in the Fog at Golden Gate Fields. Skydreamin, who won his debut that day, is trained by Jeff Bonde.

Also among the 12 nominees for the Everett Nevin are Luck Lasts, who graduated at Pleasanton on June 22, Echo Zulu, Game Stone, Pheisty Kid, and Bonde first-timer Market Notes.

Bonde won’t be running nine-length Pleasanton maiden winner She’s a Tiger in the Juan Gonzalez and instead is pointing her to stakes races in Southern California. The baby sister of Grade 1-winning sprinter Smiling Tiger, She’s a Tiger is being pointed to the Grade 2, $150,000 Sorrento Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 7 and could also run in the $150,000 Landaluce at Hollywood Park on July 13.

Bonde pulled off a Pleasanton-Sorrento double in 2006 with Untouched Talent, who won the Juan Gonzalez in her debut and the Sorrento in her second start. Untouched Talent is the dam of Kentucky Derby and Preakness runner-up Bodemeister.

Arabian races spice up card

From an international perspective, Saturday’s highlights will be a pair of six-furlong Arabian races, scheduled to be run as the second and third races following the Jack Robinson Quarter Horse Stakes in the first race.

Full fields of 10 runners are expected in the Grade 3, $30,000 H.H. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Cup and the $25,000 H.H. Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship, which will feature an international cast of women amateur riders.

“We have riders coming in from Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, Holland, and one from the East Coast of the United States,” said Jeanne Wasserman, Alameda County Fair satellite manager who was instrumental in attracting the Arabian event to Pleasanton.

The H.H. Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies World Championship was expected to be a non-wagering event because of the amateur riders, but the California Horse Racing Board granted a request by the track to allow betting, Wasserman said.

◗ Bonde and his racing manager, Mersad Metanovic, are Friday’s handicapping seminar guests at Pleasanton. Baze and his agent, Ray Harris, will appear Saturday, with owner and turf writer Don August scheduled for Sunday. The seminars are at 11:30 a.m. beside the paddock.