Trainer Bob Baffert reported Game On Dude is on schedule for the $500,000-added Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (gr. I) at Churchill Downs Nov. 29, and that only a disagreeable weight assignment would derail the gelding from starting.
Weight assignments for the 140th running of the Clark are scheduled to be announced on Friday, Nov. 22. Nineteen 3-year-olds and up were nominated.
"He's doing really well," Baffert said, "so right now all systems are go. The weight is a factor. He's coming off a loss, so I guess he'll get some consideration."
Game On Dude, a 6-year-old son of Awesome Again , is coming off a ninth-place effort as favorite in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) at Santa Anita Park. Another Clark probable, Will Take Charge , finished second to winner Mucho Macho Man in the Classic.
Previous to the Breeders' Cup World Championships, Game On Dude was on a six-race win streak, including three grade I stakes that dated back to his unplaced effort in the 2012 Classic, won by Fort Larned . In his Hollywood Gold Cup (gr. I) triumph, Game On Dude carried a career-high 127 pounds.
Owned by Diamond Pride, the Lanni Family Trust, Mercedes Stable and Bernard Schiappa, Game On Dude's career record stands at 28-15-5-1 with earnings of $5,602,138 heading into the Clark.
In two previous starts at Churchill, Game On Dude was runner-up to Drosselmeyer in the 2011 Breeders' Cup Classic and ran fifth to Hurricane Ike as a 3-year-old in the 2010 renewal of The Cliff's Edge Derby Trial Stakes (gr. III).
In his first work since the Breeders' Cup, Game On Dude worked six furlongs in 1:12 3/5 at Santa Anita Park on Nov. 17, a move that was the fastest of nine that day.
Baffert indicated that Game On Dude would have one more pre-Clark work in California this weekend and will ship to Kentucky Nov. 27.
Game On Dude
Benoit Photo