Touched by Autism holds on in Oakland Stakes

ALBANY, Calif. – Neither a one-week delay nor an extra trip from Southern California to Golden Gate Fields were too much for Touched by Autism ($28.20) to overcome as he rallied for a convincing win in the $63,375 Oakland Stakes on Saturday.

The 5-year-old Sierra Sunset horse broke from the rail after the race was re-drawn following its postponement last week when the track had to cancel racing because of poor air quality due to Northern California wildfires.

But the rail did not prove a problem for him either, as Juan Hernandez actually had to work to keep the sharp runner from moving too early while Sunset Dragunn and favored Awesome Anywhere dueled for the lead.

Touched by Autism sat fourth on the inside behind fractions of 21.88 for a quarter-mile, and 44.48 for a half.

"He broke sharp," said Hernandez. "I had to fight him to stay behind horses, but when the outside horses died, I made my move."

Sunset Dragunn, making his first start since losing to Touched by Autism in a one-mile race at Sacramento on July 28, outdueled Awesome Anywhere down the backstretch and around the turn.

Awesome Anywhere seemed to have his rival's number, heading him at the top of the lane, but Touched by Autism had a clear path outside and charged up to the leaders.

He was finishing strong and looked a winner through the final sixteenth, although the winning margin was just a neck over Sunset Dragunn, who re-rallied for second with Awesome Anywhere another neck back. The winning time was 1:09.16.

"We've been waiting for this for some time," said owner Johnny Taboada of his horse's first stakes victory. "That was the plan to sit back a bit, though the No. 1 hole made it tough. He got the right trip and it worked out."

Touched by Autism had shipped in from Los Alamitos ahead of the originally scheduled race date last week, but trainer Marcia Stortz opted to send him back to his base in the interim, Taboada said.

Touched by Autism earned $39,400 to raise his career earnings to $261,815.

As with all of Taboada's horses, he has Autism in his name to help spread awareness of the condition, which affects Taboada's 19-year-old son, Renzo.