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Overview | Conformation | Pedigree | Race Record | Progeny | Foal Photos | News
Read all of our exclusive Showcase Updates about Game Plan here:
Game Plan gelding finds his old form with stakes placing
Scalding Passion, a 5-year-old son of the California-based sire Game Plan, improved on his third-place effort in last year's edition of the Muckleshoot Tribal Classic Stakes when he finished a solid second behind repeat winner Wasserman in the 2009 running of the $50,000 Emerald Downs race on September 13. [WATCH RACE VIDEO]
With two wins, two seconds and two thirds from his 11 starts since last year's Muckleshoot, which were made in allowance and claiming company at Emerald Downs and Golden Gate Fields and included a barn switch, the Washington-bred gelding made his return to black-type competition a memorable one. Saddled by trainer Robert Baze and sent off as the 5-1 third wagering choice under jockey Juan Gutierrez, Scalding Passion broke on top in the five-horse field and proceeded to set fractions of :24, :47.40, 1:10.80 and 1:35.60 for the first mile of the 1 1/16-mile dirt test while running comfortably on the lead.
That scenario changed in deep stretch, however. As Scalding Passion neared the wire and, with it, the possibility of nabbing his first career stakes victory, reigning Washington Horse of the Year Wasserman spoiled his chances with a strong late charge on the outside that resulted in a 1 1/4-length win by the 3-5 favorite. Runner-up Scalding Passion was 3 3/4 lengths clear of the third-place finisher, 2007 Muckleshoot winner Exclusive Eagle, and earned $9,460 to push his 29-race bankroll to $96,376.
Bred by Passion Thoroughbreds and owned by Charles and Karla Laird, Scalding Passion is the third foal out of the winning Polynesian Flyer mare Shadow Brianna. He has accumulated three wins and 13 placings overall.
Game Plan is the sire of 31 black-type runners and the cumulative earners of more than $10.8 million. The 16-year-old Danzig stallion stands at E.A. Ranches in Santa Ysabel, California. - September 13, 2009
Game Plan gelding captures Turf Paradise marathon stakes
Bidding a long adiós to the 2008-2009 live racing season at Turf Paradise, where he competes exclusively, the veteran Game Plan gelding Highland Games added his winning touch to a memorable edition of the Arizona track's traditional meet-ending race on May 3.
Contested on the turf at a marathon 1 7/8 miles, the 53rd running of the $50,000 Hasta La Vista Handicap was captured by California-bred Highland Games in a grueling 3:11.10. The final event of the track's 154-day meet offered enough time for announcer Frank Mirahmadi to give an entertaining call of the race, in which he impersonated the distinctive voices of at least a dozen other racing and Hollywood celebrities, including Southern California track announcers Trevor Denman and Vic Stauffer, trainer D. Wayne Lukas, "60 Minutes" mainstay Andy Rooney and the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield. Mirahmadi concluded his call of the race by heralding Highland Games as the three-quarter-length winner in the verbal style of the late Turf Paradise announcer Luke Kruytbosch, whose microphone Mirahmadi inherited last year.
The race was also a memorable one for Highland Games' octogenarian trainer, Lyman Rollins.
"I've won most of the other (Turf Paradise) stakes at least once," said Rollins, who conditions the 6-year-old gelding for the Sandra Hall Trust. "This was the first time I raced in this one, and I've raced here since the track opened in 1956."
Installed as the 5-2 second choice in a field of eight, Highland Games bided his time in fifth throughout the opening mile, gradually advanced under jockey Miguel Hernandez and took control of the race in the final 20 yards to capture the fourth stakes trophy of his 27-race career. Produced by the winning Hurlingham mare Evergreen Beauty and bred by Terry L. Brooks and McMurry TB Services, he has won eight races overall and amassed $176,546 in earnings.
E.A. Ranches in Santa Ysabel serves as the California home of 16-year-old Game Plan. The Danzig sire is represented by more than $10.5 million in lifetime progeny earnings. - May 3, 2009
Game Plan gelding gets up for Turf Paradise stakes placing
Highland Games, a 6-year-old gelding by the California sire Game Plan, added more black type to his 24-race record on January 17, when he got up for second in the $75,000 Cotton Fitzsimmons Mile Handicap, carded for older runners on the grass at Turf Paradise.
The stakes veteran entered the one-mile turf test off his repeat victory in the Arizona track's $50,000 Hank Mills Sr. Handicap, which was contested on the dirt on December 6. The runner-up in that race, Bingham, turned the tables on Highland Games in their first rematch of 2009, winning the Fitzsimmons by three lengths in a final time that threatened the course record, at 1:35.04.
For his part, California-bred Highland Games kept a steady pace under Miguel Hernandez, less than two lengths off the heels of the front-runners, then moved up willingly in the stretch to take the place ahead of seven other rivals at odds of 9-1.
Produced by Evergreen Beauty, a winning daughter of Hurlingham, Highland Games has earned $144,546 to date, with seven wins and four placings to his credit. He was bred by Terry L. Brooks and McMurry TB Services, and is campaigned by owner Sandra Hall Trust and trainer Lyman Rollins.
Game Plan holds court at E.A. Ranches in Santa Ysabel, California. The 16-year-old stallion, an unraced son of Danzig, has sired 45 stakes horses and the cumulative earners of more than $10.3 million, topped by his 2008 Grade 1-winning filly, Mistical Plan. - January 17, 2009
Stakes winner Highland Games tops big week for Game Plan
California stallion Game Plan experienced a lucrative week from November 30 through December 6, a seven-day span during which four of his offspring won races at four different distances and on two surfaces at three racetracks, topped by Turf Paradise repeat stakes winner Highland Games.
A 5-year-old gelding, Highland Games got up in the final strides under jockey Miguel Hernandez on December 6 to capture the Arizona track's $50,000 Hank Mills Sr. Handicap - a one-mile dirt contest which he also won in 2007 for owner Sandra Hall Trust and trainer Lyman Rollins. The California-bred runner, who is out of the multiple stakes producer Evergreen Beauty, by Hurlingham, has won seven of 23 starts and banked $129,546. He was bred by Terry L. Brooks and McMurry TB Services.
The black-type victory capped a big week for Game Plan, who was also represented by two other winning geldings from his 2003 crop: Pocosin's Game Boy won a six-furlong turf allowance at Hollywood Park on November 30 and Moonlite Romance bested nine contenders in a 6 1/2-furlong claiming race on the main track at Turf Paradise on December 6. Meanwhile, his 4-year-old gelding Scalding Passion won a 1 1/16-mile starter allowance on the turf at Golden Gate Fields on December 5.
Fifteen-year-old Game Plan stands at E.A. Ranches in Santa Ysabel, California. The Danzig stallion is represented by lifetime progeny earnings of more than $10.3 million, and boasts 187 winners from 234 starters. - December 6, 2008
Game Plan achieves his sixth $200,000-plus earner
California stallion Game Plan was represented by his sixth earner of $200,000 or more on November 30, when his 5-year-old gelded son Pocosin's Game Boy rallied in the stretch at Hollywood Park to win a lucrative, six-furlong turf allowance over seven rivals.
The Doug O'Neill trainee, who was bred in California by Mr. and Mrs. Tony Schleder, stalked the early pace in third from his rail position and made his winning move three-wide in mid-stretch, powering past the two tiring front-runners for a one-length victory under Rafael Bejarano in 1:09.71. He returned a $6.40 win ticket to his backers, and picked up his own winner's paycheck of $40,560 to push his 17-race earnings to $201,828.
Produced by Pocosin Lass, a six-time winner by Taj Alriyadh, Pocosin's Game Boy has won or placed in 14 starts, primarily in allowance company on the tough Southern California circuit. He is owned by Dexter Bergounous, Norm Hansen and Anne Nolte.
Game Plan, an unraced son of the influential sire Danzig, holds court at E.A. Ranches in Santa Ysabel, California. The 15-year-old stallion has sired the earners of more than $10 million to date, including 31 stakes horses. - November 30, 2008
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