Sugar Buzz beats favorite by head in Robert Dupret Derby
Sugar Buzz got a perfect and well-timed trip under jockey Alejandro Gomez, putting his head on the wire just before odds-on favorite Ed Johnson to score an upset in the $54,725 Robert Dupret Derby on Saturday at the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa.
It was the first turf win of Sugar Buzz’s career as he handed Ed Johnson the favorite’s first turf loss in four starts.
Gomez was content to sit back in the pack early as Ed Johnson sat just off longshot Boldly True through honest fractions of 23.80 seconds, 47.60, and 1:11.60.
Julien Couton let Ed Johnson loose as they turned for home and quickly put away a tiring Boldly True. The favorite quickly opened a one-length advantage and was coming home well.
Sugar Buzz ($19.20), a son of Elusive Sugar trained by Efrain Miranda, began moving up three wide on the second turn, and Gomez shifted him out into the clear after turning for home as Ed Johnson was beginning to take command of the race. Sugar Buzz, sixth at the eighth pole, finished strongly as he picked off rivals and had his head in front at the wire.
The winning time for the 1 1/16-mile turf race was 1:42.75. Squidward finished third, another 11/4 lengths back.
Owned by Charles Lo, who claimed him for $50,000 on Jan. 22 at Santa Anita, Sugar Buzz ran third and then second in his first two turf starts. He scored an allowance win at Pleasanton, winning by a nose on dirt in his most recent start on July 3.
The victory in his stakes debut was worth $33,300 as Sugar Buzz improved his record to 4 for 11. He has now earned $98,785.