JOCKEY DURAN GETS 1,000TH VICTORY IN PHOTO FINISH
Jockey Francisco Duran notched his 1,000th career victory Friday at Golden Gate Fields when he guided Karmalize to a front-running score in the sixth race.
The photo finish camera was needed to verify Duran’s milestone win as Karmalize just held off The Hunt Is On and Saravas Wild Again in the one-mile race for 3-year-old maidens. The photo showed Karmalize hitting the wire a nose in front of The Hunt Is On, who took second by a neck over Saravas Wild Again.
“I’m excited and I’m proud of myself,” said Duran, who worked hard on Karmalize from the far turn to the wire. “It’s a tough business and I’m thankful I’ve been able to win so many races. Hopefully, I can win another thousand.”
Karmalize, trained by Andrew Wilson, returned $16.20 to win after breaking his maiden in his 10th career start.
Karmalize was career mount No. 7,590 for Duran, a 32-year-old native of Stockton who rode his first winner in 2001. He had a banner campaign in 2002 when he won 202 races and gained national attention as a finalist for the Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding apprentice rider
Duran won the riding championship at the 2002 San Mateo County Fair meeting at Bay Meadows when he topped Hall of Famer Russell Baze and Jason Lumpkins. A tough competitor, Duran finished as the fifth-leading jockey at the 2008-2009 Golden Gate Fields meeting despite missing several weeks of action with a shoulder injury.
Duran has won stakes races at Golden Gate Fields, Bay Meadows, the California State Fair in Sacramento, the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa, the Solano County Fair in Vallejo and the Big Fresno Fair.
Duran’s mounts have earned more $16 million in purses.
THREE BIG SIMULCASTS SATURDAY -- Golden Gate Fields will present a nine-race card Saturday and the local program will be complemented by simulcasts of an important Kentucky Derby prep race and the 2010 debuts of champions Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra.
Lookin At Lucky, the champion 2-year-old of 2009, will make his 3-year-old debut in the $300,000 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark. Lookin At Lucky will face seven rivals in the Rebel, a 1 1/16-mile race that will mark Lookin At Lucky’s first start on dirt and his first race wearing blinkers.
Lookin At Lucky, trained by Bob Baffert, has five wins and a second in six career races. Jockey Garrett Gomez will ride Lookin At Lucky, who is one of the early favorites for the “Run For The Roses.”
Zenyatta, the champion mare of 2008 and 2009 and the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 7, will put her undefeated record on the line in the Grade 1 $250,000 Santa Margarita Handicap at Santa Anita. Trained by John Shirreffs, Zenyatta has 14 wins in 14 starts and $5,474,580 in earnings.
Zenyatta will carry highweight of 127 pounds and be spotting from 12 to 19 pounds to her eight opponents in the 1 1/8-mile Santa Margarita. Zenyatta will have the services of her regular pilot, Mike Smith.
Rachel Alexandra, the 2009 Horse of the Year who won the Kentucky Oaks by
20 1/4 lengths, will make her first start since Sept. 5 when she heads a field of five in the
$200,000 New Orleans Ladies Stakes at Fair Grounds racetrack. Rachel Alexandra went 8-for-8 last year in a brilliant campaign that was capped off by a courageous win over male rivals in the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga.
Trained by Steve Asmussen, Rachel Alexandra will be ridden by Calvin Borel in the New Orleans Ladies, a 1 1/16-mile contest for fillies and mares. Rachel Alexandra enters her 4-year-old season with a record that features 11 wins and two seconds in 14 career starts and $2,948,354.
Horse racing fans are hoping that Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra both come through in their comeback races as it would set up a first-ever meeting between the two stars in the Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park on April 9.
Among the horses running at Golden Gate Fields Saturday is Time to Honor, an
8-year-old gelding who will be gunning for his fourth straight victory when he competes in the sixth race. Time to Honor has 16 wins in 40 career starts.
Gates open at 10 a.m. and fans attending the track will receive a free Golden Gate Fields crewneck sweatshirt. Post time is 12:45 p.m.