Respect the Hustle brings stakes credentials to Gold Rush

Two-year-olds preparing for the rigors of the Triple Crown trail bring plenty of questions into each step along the way, and the 10 runners in Saturday’s field for the $75,000 Gold Rush at Golden Gate Fields are no exceptions.

Five will be trying two turns for the first time in the one-mile Tapeta race. Seven of the runners come out of four different stakes at four different tracks.

It adds up to a wide-open race.

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The Bill McLean-trained Respect the Hustle is the lone stakes winner in the field and has done his best running since stretching out to two turns.

He sat in midpack and pulled away in the lane to win the Oak Tree Juvenile on Sept. 30 at Pleasanton, so far Northern California’s only two-turn stakes race for 2-year-olds.

“We were happy and thought he ran a good race,” McLean said.

McLean said he gave Respect the Hustle a brief respite at the farm following the Oak Tree Juvenile, then pointed him to the Gold Rush.

“He’s been working well,” McLean said. “He worked three-quarters in company and then seven-eighths and galloped out well.”

After running third and then fifth in two early-season sprints here, Respect the Hustle went to Del Mar and graduated at one mile on the turf . He ran eighth in the Del Mar Juvenile Turf in his start between his maiden win and stakes win, but was beaten only three lengths.

The Jerry Hollendorfer-trained Night At the Opera ran second in the Oak Tree Juvenile after winning his debut in a statebred maiden sprint at Golden Gate. Night At the Opera held the lead in the lane of the Oak Tree Juvenile but was outhustled to the wire by Respect the Hustle and was beaten 1 3/4 lengths. In his last start, Night At the Opera faded late to fifth in the Golden State Juvenile on Nov. 4 at Del Mar.

Gold Rush Stakes (race 7)

Key Contenders

Respect the Hustle, by Colonel John

Last 3 Beyers: 70-73-60

◗ He has worked three times since returning from his rest, going five, six, and seven furlongs.

◗ In a race that has several speedy sprinters stretching out, he is an established closer at two turns.

Night At the Opera, by Indian Evening

Last 3 Beyers: 65-68-46

◗ Stalker is likely to get first run on Respect the Hustle and should be fitter than when they met in the Oak Tree Juvenile.

◗ He was within a length of the lead to midstretch before tiring in the Golden State Juvenile.

Ayacara, by Violence

Last 3 Beyers: 81-73-53

◗ He comes off a fourth in the Grade 1 FrontRunner at Santa Anita, won by Bolt d’Oro, and his 81 Beyer Speed Figure from that race is tops in this field.

◗ His sire was a Grade 1 stakes winner at 2.

◗ He is trained by Keith Desormeaux and will be ridden by Keith’s brother Kent Desormeaux.