Yahoo Tahoe pulls late-running upset in Oak Tree Sprint
The 11-1 Yahoo Tahoe sat back early and then roared through the lane, surprising six rivals in the $62,350 Oak Tree Sprint at the Oak Tree at Pleasanton meet at the Alameda County Fair on Saturday.
Rocket Heat broke sharply from the rail in the six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up, and quickly opened a one-length lead on Kaabraj. While Rocket Heat set brisk fractions of 22.14 for the quarter and 44.87 the half, Yahoo Tahoe had only Pure Comedy beaten down the backstretch.
Yahoo Tahoe was still sixth, 4 1/2 lengths back, at the quarter pole. But Irving Orozco angled him four wide to a clear path and they ran down Rocket Heat and won by 2 1/4 lengths in 1:10.53. Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, Yahoo Tahoe paid $24 to win.
Rocket Heat turned back the challenge of Right Hand Man as the field straightened out for home, and tried to dig in when Yahoo Tahoe came to him. He held second, with Right Hand Man third. Favored Quick and Silver bounced rider William Antongeorgi III high in the air shortly after the start and was third early, but stopped badly, finishing last.
The victory was worth $41,000 for Yahoo Tahoe, a 10-time winner who was running in a stakes for the first time. He came into the race off wins in a pair of $40,000 claiming races. He has now earned $284,056.
Hollendorfer, who owns Yahoo Tahoe with Richard Robertson, saddled three other winners on the day: An Khe Pass in the fourth, The Incident in the fifth, and Whyugottabesomean in the eighth.