Photo of Top Harbor by Vassar Photography
Golden Gate Fields Press Release
BERKELEY, Calif.— The fastest of the fast signed on to compete in the 2022 edition of the Oakland Stakes at Golden Gate Fields for sprinters on Saturday afternoon. By the end of the race, one entrant was clear at the wire, stamping himself as one of the best one-turn horses in the Bay Area this year.
Top Harbor, a 4-year-old California-bred gelding trained by Tim McCanna, stalked the pace on the inside for the first half mile, split horses turning for home and motored to the front in the final furlong, drawing away from his company in the final yards while hitting the wire 1 and three-quarter lengths clear of runner up finisher Irrefutable. With winning jockey Frank Alvarado aboard, Top Harbor stopped the clock for six furlongs in 1:09.70 seconds.
Sent off as the second choice in the wagering at 2-1, Top Harbor returned $6.40 to win, $3.40 to place, and $2.40 to show. Irrefutable paid $9.60 to place and $4.80 to show. 8-5 post time favorite Psycho Dar completed the trifecta and paid $2.40 to show. He was followed home by Cool Mountain Lad, Rager, Bobby’s Alibi, and Torpedo Away.
With the Oakland Stakes triumph, Top Harbor is now a 2-time stakes winner. He sports a lifetime record of 5 wins, 4 seconds and 1 third place finish from 13 lifetime starts with career earnings of $241,3074. Top Harbor, by Harbor the Gold out of the multiple stakes-winning mare Reba Is Tops, is owned and bred by Gordy Jarnig, Kenny Marshall and Eric Schweiger.
Live racing resumes at Golden Gate on Sunday with a 9-race program. Golden Gate offers a Late Pick 5 carryover on Sunday of $39,127. Races 5 through 9 comprise the sequence. 48 horses are entered in the Late Pick 5 sequence, equating to 9.6 horses per race. First post on Sunday is 12:45 PM.
Next week, live racing is conducting on a Thursday through Sunday basis, with a Thanksgiving holiday race card kicking off the racing week. First post on Thanksgiving Thursday is 11:15 AM. Next Friday, the $50,000 Golden Gate Debutante will be the feature race of the day, and Saturday’s marquee event is the $100,000 Grade 3 Berkeley Handicap.
