You Can Run turns in career best effort to win the Go Man Go

The 4-year-old gelding You Can Run picked an advantageous time to win his first six-figure stakes in the $100,000 Go Man Go Handicap at Los Alamitos on Sunday.

The race carries a provisional berth to the $600,000 Champion of Champions on Dec. 11, the nation’s leading Quarter Horse race for older horses.

Prior to the Go Man Go, You Can Run’s best races were a second in the Los Alamitos Winter Derby and third in the Golden State Derby in 2020, and a win in his 2021 debut in the California Breeders’ Sprint Stakes at 350 yards on July 31.

The Go Man Go Handicap drew a much tougher field than those races. You Can Run gave the best performance of his 14-race career. Ridden for the first time by Cruz Mendez, You Can Run ($21.40) dueled with 4-1 Nomadic through the 400 yards, winning by a head in 19.61 seconds. Nomadic finished a half-length in front of 10-1 Cattail Cove.

Apollitical Pence, the winner of the 2020 Champion of Champions, was the 7-10 favorite, but finished fourth, beaten slightly more than a length in his first start since a second in the prestigious Remington Park Championship on May 29.

:: Join DRF Bets and play the races with a $250 First Deposit Bonus. Click to learn more.

You Can Run, by Favorite Cartel, races for owner and breeder Steve Burns of Menifee, Calif., and is trained by his brother-in-law, Mike Casselman. You Can Run has won 6 of 14 starts and earned $155,041.

You Can Run will receive a berth in the Champion of Champions if a horse wins more than one race through the season with an automatic berth to the Champion of Champions, or if a berth is declined by the winner of such a race.