ALAMEDA COUNTY FAIR JULY 4 STAKES RESULTS
By Dennis Miller
Wednesday morning at the Daily Handicapping Seminar at the Alameda County Fair where he was a guest, jockey Russell Baze talked about how much fun it was to ride Bailouttheminister, his mount later in the day in the $75,000 Sam J. Whiting Handicap.
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Later on in the day it was made apparent to everyone at the Fair as Baze and Bailouttheminister came charging down the stretch to take the Whiting, the largest purse ever for a race at the Fair in Pleasanton.
“He’s just an easy horse to ride,” said Baze. “He doesn’t mind if he gets dirt in his face or anything.”
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Baze and his mount had their work cut out for them chasing down the pace-setting Ain’t No Other.
“That (Ain’t No Other) was a difficult horse to run down,” said Baze. “But it went pretty much like we thought it would. The only question was would be able to find some place to go. When it opened up, we went right through.”
Trainer Keith Nations knows what he has in his barn, but was somewhat concerned with the dirt surface at Pleasanton.
“We were worried about the dirt,” said Nations. “He didn’t run well here last year, so we brought him over and worked him and he worked well. In fact, Russell was holding him back some.”
Bailouttheminister broke last in the field of five, gradually working his way up along the way, moving the horse off the rail.
“Russell did a great job along the back moving him out,” said Nations.
By the time they got to the top of the lane, the horse was just one-half length back, and then by mid-stretch, it was clear who was going to win the race. Ain’t No Other ended up second and Shudacudawudya was third.
“We were confident he would run well, but that was a tough group of horses,” said Nations.
Excessive Passion – the defending champion of the race - out of the Jeff Bonde and Mark Glatt’s Solar Rocket both scratched out of the race.
BRIAN PITNICK/GEORGE SCHMITT GUEST AT HANDICAPPING SEMINAR
Local trainer Brian Pitnick and local owner George Schmitt will be the guests at the Daily Handicapping Seminar, co-hosted by track announcer Frank Mirahmadi and Fair Racing Publicist Dennis Miller.
The seminar will begin at 11:45 a.m. near the paddock area, with the day’s racing card being examined as well as a question and answer with the guests.
Friday’s seminar will feature trainer Steve Sherman.
