This week at Golden Gate Fields
Schedule: Thursday through Sunday Post time: 12:45 p.m. Feature race: $75,000 Gold Rush Stakes on Saturday
Feature simulcast races: $110,00 Claiming Crown Glass Slipper at Gulfstream Park; Grade 1, $750,000 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct — both Saturday
Update: There is a carryover of $43,854 going into Thursday’s Pick Five, which begins on the first race. … Respect the Hustle and Night At The Opera, the 1-2 finishers from the Oak Tree Juvenile at Pleasanton on Sept. 30, head a full field of 2-year-olds in the Gold Rush Stakes. Eleven horses were entered Wednesday, but only 10 will run because of the track configuration for the 1-mile distance. Respect the Hustle hasn’t raced since the Oak Tree Juvenile, which was trainer and co-owner Bill McLean’s first stakes victory since 1999. The layoff was by design as McLean wants the colt fresh for Golden Gate Fields’ series of races that also includes the California Derby on Jan. 20 and the Grade 3 El Camino Real Derby on Feb. 17. Night At The Opera finished fifth in the Golden State Juvenile on Nov. 4 at Del Mar. Jerry Hollendorfer, who trains Night At The Opera, also entered Afleet Ascent, who won a 5-furlong maiden event on turf Nov. 10 at Del Mar. Ayacara and City Plan, who finished fourth and seventh, respectively, in the Grade 1 FrontRunner Stakes on Sept. 30 at Santa Anita, also will run in the Gold Rush Stakes, along with Generally Lucky, Mesa Jones, Go Bobby Go, La Waun and Vutzak. Zippy Groom is the also-eligible that can run if there are any scratches. … Nominations close Thursday for the $75,000 Bear Fan Stakes on Dec. 9 and the $50,000added Miss America Stakes on Dec. 10, which is closing day of the fall season.
Elsewhere: Trainer John F. Martin and jockey Ricardo Gonzalez will be at Gulfstream Park on Saturday with Mended, who runs in the $110,000 Claiming Crown Glass Slipper. Mended has won all nine starts since Martin claimed her for $12,500 for owners Troy and Maritza Onorato on Jan. 6. The Glass Slipper is a one-turn mile for fillies and mares that have raced for a claiming price of $12,500 or less in 2016-17. Mended has earned $125,400 during her winning streak, which is tied with Ema Bovary for the third longest by a Bay Area-based thoroughbred. Hap Logue won 11 straight in 1973, and Lost in the Fog 10 straight in 2004-05. … Sharp Azteca, who finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, and Mind Your Biscuits, who ran third in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, meet in the Cigar Mile.