Zeewat ran away from his rivals down the stretch for a 3 1/4-length victory in the $75,000 Gold Rush S. at Golden Gate Fields Saturday (VIDEO). The 2-year-old colt is one of five juvenile stakes winners by Harlan’s Holiday. The WinStar stallion is the nation’s leading sire of 2-year-olds, topped by Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) champ and Eclipse Award favorite Shanghai Bobby.
Wearing blinkers for the first time, Zeewat also was making his first start around two turns in the one-mile Gold Rush and was with the leaders from the start. Caught up in a duel with Condiment for the first six furlongs, Zeewat started to pull away in the stretch to get the mile in 1:38.13.
“He’s a different horse with the blinkers on,” said winning rider Russell Baze. “It really woke this colt up. He’s had a lot more life in the morning, working on his own.”
“We were on the lead but we were going very slow,” added Baze. “He was up on the bit and wanting to run the whole way. He has a nice way of traveling, and when I set him down he extended his stride and away he went. I never thought distance would be a problem for him.”
The Gold Rush is the second stakes victory for Zeewat, who won the six-furlong, $75,000 Cavonnier Juvenile S. at Santa Rosa during the summer. The Pennsylvania-bred has three wins and a third in five career starts.
Owned in partnership by trainer Jerry Hollendorfer and George Todaro, Zeewat earned $45,000 for the Gold Rush victory and has banked $117,700 in his five races.
Harlan’s Holiday will stand the 2013 season at WinStar for $35,000, LFS&N.
