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Wild Dude battles for San Carlos score It was a fight to the finish as Wild Dude (Wildcat Heir) withstood both Kobe's Back (Flatter) and Conquest Two Step (Two Step Salsa) in the stretch of Saturday's $250,500 San Carlos S. (G2) to trainer and co-owner Jerry Hollendorfer the first of two big wins on Big 'Cap Day at Santa Anita Park. The San Carlos came two races before Hollendorfer's Shared Belief (Candy Ride) posted an effortless victory in the Santa Anita H. (G1). But first up Wild Dude and jockey Rafael Bejarano refused to yield after grabbing command of the San Carlos rounding the turn. After pressing pacesetter El Nino Terrible (Malibu Moon) on the outside through splits of :23 1/5 and :46, Wild Dude took the lead on the turn but found fellow presser Conquest Two Step following with Kobe's Back rallying to join the fray. Those three battled it out in the lane but Wild Dude never gave an inch and held to finish seven furlongs over the fast dirt in 1:21 4/5. He paid $5.80 as the 9-5 second choice. "He's been training so good coming into this race," Bejarano said. "I thought El Nino Terrible would go to the lead and Blues Blaster (Redattore) as well. When I saw them go to the lead, I took a position and I didn't have any pressure from the outside. I just picked my spot and I went from there. I was close to the pace and he normally doesn't like that but he proved he can do it today. "By the three-eighths I took off; when I felt pressure from Conquest Two Step, I took off." "I didn't think we'd be that close early, but the horse broke real well and I'm glad Rafael went on with him," Hollendorfer remarked. "He was in between horses; I was a little worried about that, but turning for home it seemed like he still had a lot left and he opened up on them, and opened up a little more and held off a great, big, gaining gray horse (Kobe's Back)." It was three parts of a length back to Kobe's Back, who got the best of 4-5 favorite Conquest Two Step by that same margin on the wire in his first start since running fifth in last July's Bing Crosby S. (G1). "(Trainer) Pete (Eurton) did a heck of a job with him. He wasn't even blowing after the race. He was dead fit after the layoff. Super job by him," praised Gary Stevens, who had the mount on Kobe's Back. "I lost a lot of ground around the turn. I didn't really have a choice; I was behind and to the outside of Conquest Two Step and Wild Dude was down inside of him. I didn't have any choice but to be where I was. Unfortunately, we lost more ground than what I got beat by, but I'm really happy with him." Wild Dude, also campaigned by Green Smith Jr., strung together three straight wins last year, including taking his stakes bow in the Palos Verdes S. (G2) in February 2014. Making just two more starts -- a near miss fourth in this same race 12 months ago and a nose second in the Potrero Grande S. (G2) last April -- the Hollendorfer trainee was sidelined until showing back up for a title defense run in the Palos Verdes on January 31. The bay five-year-old was unable to duplicate on that day when finishing fourth, but got back to his winning ways here to move his lifetime record to 12-5-3-2, $494,220. Bred in Florida by Versatile Thoroughbreds LLC, Wild Dude first sold for only $9,000 as a 2010 OBS Fall Mixed Sale weanling and then for $42,000 as an OBS Spring two-year-old in training. He is the first registered foal out of the winning Courtly Choice (Doneraile Court), who is a half-sister to a pair of stakes-placed winners. Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com
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