Game On Dude headed for Charles Town Classic

Charles Town, WV (SportsNetwork.com) – Game On Dude showed he’s back to full form when he won his second straight and third overall Santa Anita Handicap more than a month ago and now the 7-year-old gelding will go for a second consecutive win in the $1.5 million Charles Town Classic.

Trained by Bob Baffert, Game On Dude will leave California on Tuesday for the trip to Charles Town. Last year he won the 1 1/8-mile race by a half-length over Clubhouse Ride with Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith in the saddle. Smith will again have the mount for Saturday’s stakes.

Game On Dude, partly owned by Joe Torre, began 2014 with a fifth-place finish in the San Antonio Stakes at Santa Anita on Feb. 8. The San Antonio was his first race of the year following consecutive defeats in the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Classic and Clark Handicap.

Smith was Game On Dude’s primary jockey last year. Martin Garcia was aboard when the gelding won the Pacific Classic by 8 1/2 lengths in August. Smith took over the mount in December 2012 from Rafael Bejarano and guided Game On Dude to a win in the Native Diver. Bejarano replaced Chantal Sutherland after Game On Dude finished second in the 2012 Pacific Classic and won the Awesome Again before finishing seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

The gelding has earned more than $6.1 million with 16 wins in 31 starts.

Categorized in: Horses