Chantal Sutherland celebrates Game On Dude's San Antonio H. win  -Benoit Photo

Game On Dude romped to a 5 3/4-length victory in the $200,000 San Antonio H. (G2) on Feb. 4 to give the 5-year-old horse his fourth victory in as many starts at Santa Anita Park, highlighted by his signature win in the $750,000 million Santa Anita H. (G1) last year. This was also Baffert's third San Antonio win; he won his first in 2003 with Congaree and then in 2010 with Richard's Kid.

Off a beat slow, Game On Dude recovered quickly and raced alongside Skipshot around the first turn. Keen to go on, Chantal Sutherland let Game On Dude out in the middle of the backstretch, and he quickly opened up three lengths on the field. After a lively six furlongs in 1:09.12, the eventual winner still had plenty of energy for an enthusiastic stretch run to finish the 1 1/8 miles in 1:46.88, just a second off the track record (VIDEO).

“He’s such a good horse,” Sutherland exclaimed. “He was strong today and we had a lot left. He wasn’t even sweating when he came back. It was like a workout for him. I had to look at the (infield) TV to see if anybody was around because I couldn’t hear anybody. When I looked at the TV and saw it was clear sailing, I was so happy.”

Game On Dude is owned by a partnership that includes Bernie Schiappa, Ernie Moody, the estate of Terry Lanni, and former major league baseball manager Joe Torre. For the first time in their horse's career, Torre was in attendance for his race. “This is exciting,” he said. “Last time, at the Breeders’ Cup, my daughter had a performance, so that obviously took precedence. It’s been a great day.”

Overall, Game On Dude has earned $2,254,658 with a 6-4-1 record in 15 starts.

Baffert has a couple of options for Game On Dude's next start. He can remain at Santa Anita and defend his title in the Santa Anita H. (G1) or going to Dubai for the $10 million Dubai World Cup (G1) on March 31.

"We'll talk to the owners," Baffert said, "but a lot has to do with what kind of weight we get and all that stuff. We're just trying to enjoy this right now.

"He's nominated to Dubai, but the thing about Dubai is that it's getting more and more difficult for American horses to win there because of the new track layout and the synthetic. You don't know what to expect. We can think about it. It's an option, so we're gong to leave all options open for now."
 
Torre deferred to Baffert for the next race. "When I was managing," he said. "I always relied on my coaches when I had to make decisions on the baseball field. The main thing is, we want to do what's right for the horse, and the one who knows best about that is Bob Baffert."