Wild Dude Rallies Late to Claim SA Sprint

With a blazing speed ahead of him, Wild Dude's chances in the $300,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship (gr. I) looked bleak early on—but the son of Wildcat Heir   never relented, blowing by his rivals late to secure his second grade I score.

Fellow closer Kobe's Back nearly got by the Jerry Hollendorfer trainee late, but Wild Dude held on to win by a neck, finishing six furlongs in 1:09.45 under jockey Rafael Bejarano. Longshot Glacken Too came in third, 4 1/4 lengths back.

The top pair was as many as 15 lengths back early on, as frontrunners Distinctiv Passion and heavily favored Masochistic dueled for the lead, setting fractions of :21.44 and :43.93 through a half-mile. Masochistic tired to finish fourth and Distinctiv Passion hit the wire last.

"I let him go and I was only really concerned about the horse that was going to come from behind me, Kobe's Back," Bejarano said. "I was waiting to make my own decision. I let him relax and let him finish like he won before.

The quick fractions up front were the focus from most of the trainers after the race, from all perspectives.

"When I saw the :43 and change go up, I thought we had a chance," said Hollendorfer, who owns Wild Dude in partnership with Green Smith. "Then I started thinking Kobe's Back was going to close, too, and he did."

"Well, he went a little too fast," said Ron Ellis, who trains Masochistic, the 3-5 favorite. "Forty-three and change is not his game, really. He's not a :43 and change horse."

Kobe's back, almost always late to break from the gate, was again well back after the first few jumps. A hop at the start didn't help.

"Tough beat," said Gary Stevens, who rode Kobe's Back. "He had way more energy today. The break today wasn't pretty, but it wasn't horrendous."

The victory is the second Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" score toward the TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I) for Wild Dude this year. He also won the Bing Crosby Stakes (gr. I) at Del Mar July 26.

Bred in Florida by Versatile Thoroughbreds, out of the Doneraile Court mare Courtly Choice, Wild Dude now has a 7-4-4 record from 18 starts, with earnings of $954,887.