Get Her Number, Indian Peak, Vanzzy lead San Francisco Mile
The marquee race of the year at Golden Gate Fields, the Grade 3, $250,000 San Francisco Mile for 3-year-olds and upward at one mile on turf, drew a full field of 14. The race, one of six stakes to be contested on Saturday, April 30, will go as the ninth event on an enticing 12-race program.
Grade 1 winner Get Her Number is one of two contenders entered for Southern California conditioner Ruben Alvarado. Get Her Number, to be ridden by Evin Roman for the first time, won the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes as a 2-year-old at Santa Anita and most recently defeated a salty bunch of second level allowance sprinters on turf.
The other Alvarado trainee is Indian Peak, whose best career effort came at 1 1/16 miles when finishing third in the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap at Del Mar last year. Earlier this winter, the California-bred placed second in the Grade 3 San Simeon Stakes.
Trainer Richard Baltas won last year’s San Francisco Mile with Whisper Not and the 2020 edition campaigning Neptune’s Storm. Seeking a three-peat, Baltas sends up Vanzzy, a Grade 3 placed 5-year-old who won the Jersey Derby at Monmouth Park in 2020. Most recently, the son of Verrazano won a third-level Santa Anita allowance race on March 25 with jockey Joe Bravo, who retains the mount in the San Francisco Mile.
Ecrivain finished third behind Vanzzy on March 25 and makes his second career start in North America for Hall of Famer Richard Mandella. Beginning his career in France in 2019, Ecrivain won a pair of Group 3’s and competed in a trio of Group 1 races overseas. Making his second start off a layoff, he is expected to be in peak condition. Ecrivain will be ridden for the first time by 2021 Eclipse Champion Apprentice jockey Jessica Pyfer.
Restrainedvengence completed the trifecta in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile last fall and makes his second start off a layoff in the San Francisco Mile for trainer Val Brinkerhoff. This is his third appearance in the San Francisco Mile, finishing fourth in 2020 and third in 2021. Regular pilot Edwin Maldonado is slated to ride once again.
Other Southern California shippers include Evening Sun and Tiz Plus, the top two finishers in a second level allowance race at Santa Anita on March 11, and Delaware, a Group 3 winner in Europe and a minor stakes victor in America. Delaware began his North American campaign with East Coast based trainer Chad Brown and currently resides on the West Coast with Paddy Gallagher.
A sextet of local contenders play ball for the home team. The racer with the strongest resume is undoubtedly Camino Del Paraiso, a four-time stakes winner at Golden Gate for trainer O. J. Jauregui. The 9-year-old veteran finished as the runner up in the Unusual Heat Turf Classic for California-breds at Santa Anita earlier this year and finished third in the 2020 San Francisco Mile.
Freeport Joe won the Grade 3 Berkeley Handicap in November and a pair of open allowance races immediately following the graded stakes triumph. His last two races have resulted in losses. He seeks to rebound for local trainer Gloria Haley, who employs Ruben Fuentes to ride him for the first time.
Nolde may have the most peculiar storyline out of any horse in the race. Owned by Jerry Moss and conditioned by local trainer Steve Sherman, the son of Pioneerof the Nile has not been seen since an off-the-board finish in the 2019 Twilight Derby at Santa Anita. In the summer of that year, Nolde was victorious in the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby. Nolde has posted several fast workouts leading up to his 2022 debut and will be guided by Northern California mainstay Pedro Terrero.
California-bred stakes winner Jimmy Blue Jeans, stakes-placed Tom’s Surprise and multiple allowance winner Harmon round out the list of locals.