Awesome Gem walks to the paddock of 2007 Breeders' Cup Classic, photo via Wikipedia Commons
On August 19, 9-year-old Awesome Gem, a chestnut gelding by Awesome Again, makes his 52nd lifetime start in the Longacres Mile Handicap (G3) at Emerald Downs in Washington State. Owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, he is trained by Craig Dollase and will be ridden by jockey David Flores. Awesome Gem won this race last year, one of his 11 wins, 15 seconds, and 6 third place finishes. He has earned $2,851,370 over his 7-year career. Clearly his connections have taken great care of him, and select his races with extra consideration. From the Bloodhorse.com:
“We haven’t over-raced him, we’ve kind of picked our spots, and he’s handled every challenge in good shape,” said trainer Craig Dollase. “We love the timing between this race and his last race, and of course he’s the defending champ so we’re looking forward to going up there and getting the job done.”
“He shows up in the afternoons, that’s the key,” Dollase said. “He’s never really been a great workhorse in the mornings. I’ve worked him on the turf course the last couple times; two long turf works. He handled that fine and we’re happy with where he’s at. He’s nine years old and we’ve got to take care of him; we space his races and everything very carefully now, picking our spots, so to speak. We like the way he’s coming into this race.”
Good luck to Awesome Gem, an iron horse!
