FULL FIELD OF 12 ENTERED IN $300,000 SAN FRANCISCO MILE
Provided by Golden Gate Fields
FULL FIELD OF 12 ENTERED IN $300,000 SAN FRANCISCO MILE
The Grade 2 $300,000 San Francisco Mile, Northern California's richest and highest-rated race, attracted a full field of 12 when entries were taken Wednesday morning.
The San Francisco Mile will be run Saturday at Golden Gate Fields on the track's Lakeside Turf Course. Post time for the feature, the seventh race on a 10-race program, is 3:45 p.m. First post is 12:45 p.m. and fans attending the races will receive a free GGF sports bag.
The field for the SF Mile, in post position order, is as follows: Our Partner, William Antongeorgi will ride; Liberian Freighter, Jesus Rios; Storm Military, Brice Blanc; Silent Soul, Iggy Puglisi; Mr Napper Tandy, Julio Garcia; Bold Chieftain, Roberto Gonzalez; Sky Cape, Danny Sorenson; Ferneley, Russell Baze; Autism Awareness, Omar Figueroa;
Mr. Wolverine, Jose Valdivia, Jr.; Yacht Spotter, Alex Bisono; and Siren Lure, Chad Schvaneveldt. All of the starters carry 122 pounds.
Irish-bred Ferneley, who posted a very impressive 3 1/4-length victory in a one-mile allowance race on the Golden Gate Fields lawn on April 3, may be the one to beat in SF Mile based on that effort. Ferneley's performance earned him a Beyer Speed Figure of 106 ' the highest in the nation this year for a grass race.
Ferneley won a Group 3 stakes in Ireland last year and has placed in graded stakes in Southern California. Based at Santa Anita and trained by Ben Cecil, Ferneley gets the services of Hall of Famer Baze Saturday.
The top local runners competing in the SF Mile are Siren Lure and Bold Chieftain.
Siren Lure, an 8-year-old gelding trained by Steve Sherman, has won 15 of his 35 career starts and $982,244. Bold Chieftain, a 6-year-old horse from the barn of William J. Morey, Jr., has been victorious in 11 of his 25 lifetime races and goes into the SF Mile with $840,411 in earnings.
Siren Lure has won three straight six-furlong races on Golden Gate Fields' synthetic Tapeta racing surface, including the Golden Gate Fields Sprint in his most recent outing on March 21. Siren Lure is 6-for-13 racing on turf but is 0-for-2 in one-mile races.
Bold Chieftain has won eight stakes, including the $250,000 California Cup Classic at Santa Anita in 2007. Bold Chieftain competed in the Breeders' Cup last fall at Santa Anita and finished eighth in the $2 million Mile. Bold Chieftain was beaten less than six lengths by the brilliant winner of the Mile, Goldikova.
