Wests gratified to see champion Game Winner back on track

CYPRESS, Calif. – From the confusion and anguish of the Kentucky Derby aftermath on May 4, there was one emotion evident on the faces of owners Gary and Mary West after Game Winner’s win in the Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby on Saturday.

Satisfaction.

Game Winner, the champion 2-year-old male of 2018, won the $150,000 Los Alamitos Derby in a performance that served as a trial for the Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 24.

“He seems to be back to his old self again,” Gary West said in the winner’s circle. “I think this will be a great prep race for him.”

Game Winner was sixth in the Kentucky Derby and was promoted to fifth after the West’s Maximum Security was disqualified from first and placed 17th in a controversial decision that made racing national news.

Game Winner was the 6-1 third choice in the Kentucky Derby and was beaten 3 3/4 lengths. Game Winner did not run in the remainder of the Triple Crown races.

“He was a little bit knocked out and lost a bit of weight after the Derby,” Gary West said. “He had a horrible start. He ran really hard in that race.”

By early June, Game Winner was back in full training at Santa Anita under the direction of Bob Baffert. Game Winner had a series of fast workouts at Santa Anita in June and early July in advance of the Los Alamitos Derby at 1 1/8 miles.

The Wests and Baffert teamed to win the 2017 Travers Stakes with West Coast, who was later named the champion 3-year-old male of the year. Game Winner is in contention for the same award this year amongst a group that does not have a standout.

Game Winner won for the first time this year in the Los Alamitos Derby, pulling clear for a five-length victory. Last year, Game Winner won three consecutive Grade 1 races, a sequence that ended with a comprehensive victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs in November.

The Los Alamitos Derby was Game Winner’s fourth start of 2019. Earlier this year, Game Winner was second by a nose to Omaha Beach in a division of the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park on March 16 in his first start of the year, and was second by a half-length to stablemate Roadster in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 6 in his final start before the Kentucky Derby.

“I still think, and I could be wrong, that’s he’s one of the top 3-year-olds in the country,” West said of Game Winner.

“Omaha Beach is touted as the best horse in the country and he beat us by an inch after a four and a half-month layoff. If he’s the best, it’s not a bad place to be.”

By Candy Ride, Game Winner has won 5 of 8 starts and earned $2,027,500.

A more immediate interest is Maximum Security’s appearance in Saturday’s Grade 1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park. Maximum Security, who is trained by Jason Servis, was second after a poor start in the Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park on June 16 in his only start since the Kentucky Derby.

“He’s doing well,” West said. “We’ll be back there next Saturday and watch the Haskell.”

West declined to extensively comment on the disqualification in the Kentucky Derby, which has led to an ongoing lawsuit. The family’s leading 3-year-olds are bound for two of the leading stakes in the nation in coming weeks.

“Winning the Kentucky Derby and losing the Kentucky Derby in a 22-minute period, if you’re in the racing business, it’s hard to imagine the experience unless you went through it,” West said. “That’s happened to me.”