The Best of the West - Game On Dude

In the midst of Wise Dan's loss to Silver Max in the Shadwell (Polytrack) Mile (and a Sixteenth), Horse of the Year talk has heated to a boil in industry and fan circles alike.  Will it be Princess of Sylmar, or Palace Malice, or even Wise Dan still, if he impresses in the Mile?  Slogging through the arguments is no enjoyable task, particularly when many of these arguments are lacking one key component - the most accomplished older male in the country.

Yes, though his name has often been left out of the frenzy of these recent arguments, Game On Dude has been quietly putting together one of the best California resumes since Lava Man.  This year, he equaled Lava Man's feat of winning the Big 'Cap, the Gold Cup and the Pacific Classic in the same year, something that may never happen again if the Hollywood Gold Cup is not reinstated at a different track.  He has amassed over $5.6 million in 15 wins, and, at six years old, this gelding shows no signs of stopping. 

His background, though not the most blueblooded, is far from humble.  He is a son of Breeders' Cup Classic winner Awesome Again, whose many champion offspring includes the like of Horse of the Year Ghostzapper and champion mare Ginger Punch.  His dam is a stakes-winning daughter of Grade 1 winner Devil His Due, and Game On Dude's pedigree is loaded with names like champion Raise a Native - twice - legendary racehorses Northern Dancer and Dr. Fager, and Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. 

Failing to sell as a yearling at Keeneland, Game On Dude was later sold privately and began to prepare for the races under the steady hand of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert.  The gelding took a little while to get going, not racing until the beginning of his three year-old year.  After unsuccessful starts in two Derby prep races, Baffert decided to bypass the Derby.  Instead, Game On Dude ran away with the Lone Star Derby (G3), notching the first big win in what was to become a successful career.  This victory impressed Baffert enough to run him in the 2010 Belmont Stakes, where he finished a tired fourth to Drosselmeyer, who he would face again later.  He exited the race nursing a hind ankle injury and would not return to the track that year.

As a four year-old, Game On Dude came out with guns blazing.  A 14-1 longshot, he sat close to the pace set by First Dude and pounced on the turn, taking the lead.  Then what looked like a game of bumper cars ensued as Game On Dude bounced off of Twirling Candy, shoving his rival into Setsuko on the far outside.  Twirling Candy was done, but the white-faced Setsuko came at the gelding with a furious rally, looking as if he had the race won.  Much to everyone's surprise, Game On Dude fought back stubbornly, shoving his dark brown nose in front as the wire flashed by.  After a lengthy inquiry regarding the jostling in the stretch, Game On Dude was proclaimed the winner.  He was now a horse to be taken seriously.

After a few on the board performances in some Grade 3 handicaps and a second place to First Dude in the Hollywood Gold Cup, Game On Dude turned back the challenge of Awesome Gem to win the Goodwood Stakes (G1), earning him a spot in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.  Baffert's gelding took the lead immediately as the best horses in the country chased after him.  It looked as if he would give up at the far turn, but he turned back challenge after challenge until, in deep stretch, he found himself alone on the lead again.  Leading a group of that caliber for ten furlongs at a decent pace was a little too much to ask of the young horse, though, and just as jockey Chantal Sutherland thought she had the race won on Game On Dude, his old rival Drosselmeyer came out of nowhere on the far outside to take the victory.  And who else riding him but Mike Smith, Sutherland's ex-boyfriend, avenging his loss on Zenyatta the year previous?  It was a race dripping with irony.

2012 would treat Game On Dude even better.  After a lackluster finish in the Dubai World Cup, he came back the States and rattled off an impressive string of victories, including the Hollywood Gold Cup (G1) and the newly christened Awesome Again Stakes (formerly the Goodwood), named for his sire.  He also finished a game second to the fast-closing Dullahan in the Pacific Classic (G1); a track record was set that day.  He entered the Breeders' Cup Classic again.  This time, he was on his home turf, Santa Anita, and he was a heavy favorite.  However, after an uncharacteristically slow start, he lost his golden leading spot to Fort Larned, who would end up going all the way, fighting off the game Mucho Macho Man.  Game On Dude finished seventh many lengths behind the winner.  After that disastrous run, Chantal Sutherland lost the mount on her gritty gelding.

Now we've arrived at this year's campaign.  If Game On Dude was good in his first few years as a racehorse, he has been absolutely sparkling in 2013.  After a successful yearly debut in the San Antonio (G2), he returned to the Big 'Cap and notched an eye-popping win by nearly eight lengths - and it looked effortless!  After a workmanlike victory in the Charles Town Classic (G2), he returned to California and won his second Hollywood Gold Cup, galloping into history as the last winner of that race at Hollywood Park.  It was redemption time for Game On Dude in the Pacific Classic, who had lost the race twice before.  No worries, though, for his connections - he destroyed the field by more than eight lengths, the largest winning margin in Pacific Classic history.  Bypassing another run in the Awesome Again (G1), he now awaits his third try at the Breeders' Cup Classic, where he will almost certainly be favored again.

After reviewing these facts, particularly the paragraph above, it astounds me how people continue to forget about Game On Dude in the wake of other victories.  This year has been his best, and certainly one of the most consistent for an older horse in quite some time.  People complain that he's been facing soft fields, but no one has come out to face him.  We'll see how the horses from the East do against the best of the West, but, until the verdict of the Breeders' Cup Classic, Game On Dude has his hooves firmly cemented in a Horse of the Year title for 2013.