INGLEWOOD, Calif. – At least in a workout, someone has gotten close to Game On Dude in California.
At Santa Anita on Sunday, trainer Bob Baffert worked Game on Dude and Richard’s Kid in company. They are his two hopes for Saturday’s $500,000 Hollywood Gold Cup at Betfair Hollywood Park.
Game On Dude and Richard’s Kid finished the workout evenly, Baffert said, although Game On Dude was given a six-furlong time of 1:13.60, .20 of a second faster than Richard’s Kid.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Richard’s Kid resumed his California career in Friday’s $71,650 Prove It Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park with a convincing win that left him with a leading role in the handicap division.
While the minor Prove It Stakes was not as prestigious of a win as the Grade 1 Goodwood Stakes in October 2010, the horse’s last start on this circuit, Friday’s result showed that Richard’s Kid belongs in the $500,000 Hollywood Gold Cup on July 7, which trainer Bob Baffert mentioned as a goal before the Prove It.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Richard’s Kid was at the top of the California older male division when he was sent to Dubai in the fall of 2010.
Getting back to that level of racing is the goal for the second half of 2012, a campaign that begins in the $70,000 Prove It Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park on Friday evening.
Owned by Sheikh Rashid bin Mohammed al Maktoum’s Zabeel Racing International, Richard’s Kid rejoins trainer Bob Baffert’s stable for his latest American campaign. Richard’s Kid was trained in Dubai by Satish Seemar.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – A familiar name has rejoined Bob Baffert’s roster of older horses for the second half of the year.
Richard’s Kid, the winner of the 2010 Pacific Classic at Del Mar, is in training with Baffert at Santa Anita, having spent the last 18 months racing without notable success in Dubai. Wednesday, Richard’s Kid worked a half-mile at Santa Anita in 46.80 seconds, the fastest of 21 recorded works at the distance.
The workout was Richard’s Kid’s first since returning to Baffert’s stable in April.
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Richard’s Kid’s 2010 campaign began with a change of colors and ended with a familiar sight, the horse in full homestretch flight, on his way to a major Southern California stakes victory.
That season finale came in the Grade 1 Goodwood Handicap on Oct. 2, giving Richard’s Kid three graded stakes victories during the year – including two Grade 1’s – and a spot on the roster of Eclipse Award finalists.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Richard’s Kid, the winner of the Pacific Classic and Goodwood Stakes in his last two starts, will not start in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 6, and he will be sent to Dubai for racing this winter, trainer Bob Baffert said on Tuesday.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - On an afternoon highlighted by the 19th consecutive victory by Zenyatta, Richard’s Kid stamped himself as one of her major rivals in the Breeders’ Cup Classic by rallying to take the Grade 1, $250,000 Goodwood Stakes at the Oak Tree meeting at Hollywood Park.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Bob Baffert was in Saratoga on Saturday when Richard’s Kid won the Pacific Classic and El Brujo the Pat O’Brien, but he was back on the scene Tuesday morning, making plans for those horses and several others in his barn.
Baffert said Richard’s Kid, who won the Pacific Classic for the second straight year, would likely make his next start in the Goodwood Stakes, now scheduled to be run this year at Hollywood Park.
BDEL MAR, Calif. - Reunited, and it felt so good.
Last year, jockey Mike Smith climbed aboard Richard’s Kid for the first time, and they won the Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar.
Not until Saturday, some 51 weeks later, did Smith get back on Richard’s Kid. He hadn’t ridden him in another race, not even been aboard for a workout. It didn’t matter.
