Health & Fitness
Reconstruction takes Livermore Valley Wine Stakes at Alameda County Fair!!
Horse racing stakes story from Sunday June 24 at Alameda County Fair
Alameda County Fair June 24 stakes results
By Dennis Miller
Sunday turned out to be a very successful day for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.
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Roughly 50 minutes after his horse Capital Plan won the Grade III $100,000 Beverly Hills Handicap at Betfair Hollywood Park, Hollendorfer saw his horses run first and second in the $50,000 Livermore Valley Wine Stakes at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton.
Reconstruction, ridden by Frank Alvarado, came home with the win in the 3-year-old stakes, with Longview Drive and Russell Baze finishing second.
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Longview Drive, who earlier this year competed in three graded stakes races as a potential Kentucky Derby entry, had been off since May 12 when he was third in the $75,000 Alcatraz on the turf at Golden Gate Fields.
“I was freshening up Longview Drive and I wanted to see if he could run a good short one,” said Hollendorfer.
Which he did, coming from off the pace to nearly run down Reconstruction in the final yards of the race on Sunday.
Reconstruction, who broke from the inside post, nearly didn’t run in the race.
“I almost scratched (Reconstruction) when he drew the No. 1 post,” said Hollendorfer, fearing the horse would get stuck behind the early speed. “He kind of got left early, but the pace was pretty good.”
Alvarado turned in a great ride, biding his time until he had a chance to make a move. With the solid early pace, Alvarado had a strong feeling his time would come.
“I knew (Three Vases and Coach Bob) had the early speed so I needed to take my time and see how it played out,” explained Alvarado. “I knew I had to beat (Longview Drive) – I knew he was coming at some point.”
Alvarado made his move around the top of the lane when he found an opening. At the same time, Baze was moving from further back and the race for the finishing line was on.
“He got through and (Longview Drive) couldn’t catch him,” said Hollendorfer.
Coach Bob held on for third place.
FAIR RACING OFF FOR THREE DAYS
Sunday concluded the first four days of racing at the Fair and racing will take a break until Thursday when there will be a 1:15 p.m. post time for the seven-race card.
The Daily Handicapping Seminar will take place at 11:45 a.m. with Racing Secretary Tom Doutrich the guest.
