Santa Anita: Game On Dude tunes up for Charles Town Classic

ARCADIA, Calif.- Game On Dude is on schedule for a start in the $1.5 million Charles Town Classic in West Virginia on April 19 after working six furlongs in 1:13 at Santa Anita on Sunday.

Game On Dude won the Santa Anita Handicap on March 8 for a record third time in his most recent start. Mike Smith rode Game On Dude in the Santa Anita Handicap and was aboard for Sunday’s workout.

“I haven’t worked him a lot,” said Smith, Game On Dude’s rider since December 2012. “I’ve been on him six, seven, or eight times, and that was the best he worked. It felt like he was flying.”

Trained by Bob Baffert for a partnership, Game On Dude, 7, has won 16 of 31 starts and $6,163,893. Game On Dude was second in the 2011 Charles Town Classic and won the race last year. Game On Dude’s win in the Santa Anita Handicap ended a three-race losing streak dating back to the Pacific Classic at Del Mar last August.