ARCADIA, Calif. – Game On Dude was not all there when he romped to a record win in Saturday’s $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap.

“He blew a front shoe,” trainer Bob Baffert said Sunday.

Baffert was not sure when Game On Dude lost the shoe in the race, but said the 6-year-old gelding did not suffer a bruise or any other negative effects.

Game On Dude won the Big Cap by 7 3/4 lengths, a record margin for the race over 1 1/4 miles. Carrying top weight of 125 pounds, Game On Dude led throughout under jockey Mike Smith, pulling away from eight rivals in the stretch.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Vyjack, West Hills Giant, and Elnaawi – the top three finishers from Saturday’s Grade 3, $400,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct – all came out of the race in good order and are expected to meet again in the Grade 1, $1 million Wood Memorial here April 6.

Unstoppable U overtook pacesetter Hurricane Ike in the stretch and went on to a one-length win in Saturday night’s $100,000 Maxxam Gold Cup at Sam Houston Race Park. Dreaming Blues rallied for second, with Hurricane Ike holding third in the richest of four stakes on the card.

In the $50,000 Texas Heritage, Departing remained undefeated in three starts in a win that could set him up for an appearance in the Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Going into the final six-hour session of wagering Sunday, the mutuel field continued as a clear-cut favorite in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager. The pool reopens at noon Eastern and closes at 6 p.m.

After Saturday wagering, the second of three days for Pool 2, the field – the 24th or “all others” option – was the 3-1 favorite, with Verrazano next at 9-1. They were followed by Orb (11-1), Revolutionary (12-1), Flashback (13-1), and Itsmyluckyday (13-1). The impressive win by Vyjack in the Gotham Stakes on Saturday at Aqueduct lowered his price to 14-1.

ARCADIA, Calif. - It was a subtle moment, but to Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith it meant everything.

When Game On Dude was rumbling down the backstretch of Saturday’s $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap with a lead of more than two lengths, Smith allowed his mount to pause for a few strides.

“I gave him a little breather,” Smith said. “He takes in a whole lot of air. When he does that, I feel like I’m loaded again.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – Ron McAnally joined the 700 club at Santa Anita on Saturday in the most-appropriate fashion, winning a Grade 1 race on Santa Anita Handicap Day,  and with an import from South America.

McAnally is best known for his work training two-time Big Cap winner John Henry, as well as with South American imports such as Bayakoa, Candy Ride, and Paseana. On the Big Cap undercard Saturday, he struck with Suggestive Boy, an Argentine import who won his second straight stakes race by capturing the Grade 1, $300,750 Kilroe Mile.

Up With the Birds and Gator Zone, both ridden to victory by Shaun Bridgmohan, won 3-year-old-restricted turf races on a soggy Fair Grounds turf course Saturday.

The Fair Grounds course record for 7 1/2-furlong races is 1:29.20. Up With the Birds’ winning time for the $75,000 Black Gold Stakes was 1:35.84, while Gator Zone captured the $75,000 Allen Lacombe Stakes in 1:36.78.

“Anytime you run them on a course like this for the first time, you wonder how they’ll handle it,” said trainer Steve Margolis, who sent Gator Zone out to win the Lacombe in her two-turn debut.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - King Henny overtook pacesetter Titletown Five in the late stages of the $60,000 Gazebo on Saturday for a 1 1/4-length win in the six-furlong stakes for 3-year-olds at Oaklawn Park. Titletown Five, making his first start since October, won a tight photo for second over Malibu High.

Get Happy Mister, who brought a 4-for-4 record into the Gazebo, dueled with Titletown Five through a half-mile and finished seventh in what was his first race since August.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The Kentucky Derby stock of both Itsmyluckyday and Shanghai Bobby may have risen even higher on Saturday after Clearly Now, a distant third behind that pair in the Grade 3 Holy Bull, rallied to a 1 3/4-length victory over the 50-1 Singanothersong in the $150,000 Swale Stakes.

Forty Tales, the 4-5 favorite in the seven-furlong Swale, finished a non-threatening fifth in the Grade 3 dash.

ARCADIA, Calif. – After a brief hiccup, Beholder is back.

Compromised by an ulcer in her throat in her first start of the year, Beholder returned to her best form on Saturday at Santa Anita, leading her seven rivals on a fruitless chase as she romped to a 3 3/4-length victory in the Grade 1, $250,000 Las Virgenes Stakes for 3-year-old fillies.