Game On Dude (foaled April 26, 2007 in Kentucky) is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse gelding. He won fourteen graded stakes races, including eight Grade I stakes: the Santa Anita Handicap in 2011, 2013, and 2014 the only horse to have won that race three times; he also won the Goodwood Stakes twice (2011, 2012), the 2013 Pacific Classic Stakes, and the Hollywood Gold Cup twice (2012, 2013). He has beaten many of the leading North American racehorses including Awesome Gem, Tizway, Ruler on Ice, Uncle Mo, Stay Thirsty, Mucho Macho Man and Will Take Charge and has been rated among the best thirty racehorses in the world in the annual World Thoroughbred Rankings. Upon his retirement, he was compared favorably as one of the greatest racing geldings of all time, along with Kelso, John Henry and Forego.
Background
Game On Dude is a dark bay gelding with no white markings on his face and pastern-high socks on both hind legs. He was bred by the Adena Springs stud of Paris, Kentucky. He was sired by the 1998 Breeders' Cup Classic winner Awesome Again, whose other major winners include Ghostzapper, Oxbow, Wilko and Paynter. Game On Dude is the second recorded foal of his dam Worldly Pleasure, a mare who won eight of her thirty-one races between 2003 and 2005. As a descendant of the broodmare Adjournment, Worldly Pleasure was a distant relative of the Preakness Stakes winner Master Derby.
In September 2008 the yearling was sent to the Keeneland but did not meet his reserve price of $210,000. He was later sold privately and sent into training with Bob Baffert. He has been ridden by several leading jockeys including Rafael Bejarano, Chantal Sutherland and Mike E. Smith. The horse often raced with blinkers and a blue shadow roll.
Racing career
2010: three-year-old season
Unraced as a two-year-old, Game On Dude began his racing career at Gulfstream Park in early 2010, winning a maiden race over one mile at his second attempt. He was then moved up in class to contest three of the preparatory races for the Triple Crown series. After finishing unplaced in the Florida Derby and the Cliff's Edge Derby Trial, he ran in the Grade III Lone Star Derby at Lone Star Park on May 8. Ridden by Martin Garcia, he took the lead in the straight and drew clear of his opponents to record his first significant win by four and a half lengths. Garcia was again in the saddle when Game On Dude started a 17/1 outsider for the Belmont Stakes on June 5. He challenged for the lead early in the straight before finishing fourth of the eleven runners, two and a half lengths behind the winner Drosselmeyer. Game On Dude did not race again in 2010: according to Baffert; "He did something to a hind ankle, so I had to stop on him."
2011: four-year-old season
In 2011, Game On Dude ran eight times and won three races, notably the Santa Anita Handicap and the Goodwood Stakes, both at Santa Anita Park. The Santa Anita Handicap, which provided the gelding with his first Grade I win, was a controversial race. Ridden by Sutherland, he prevailed by a nose from Setsuko but had been involved in an incident in which the favorite, Twirling Candy, had been badly hampered. The result was only confirmed after a lengthy steward's inquiry and was met by boos from the crowd. That year, he also finished second in the Hollywood Gold Cup and the Breeders' Cup Classic.
2012: five-year-old season
As a five-year-old, Game On Dude won the San Antonio Stakes, Californian Stakes, Hollywood Gold Cup, Awesome Again Stakes and Native Diver Handicap. He started 5/4 favorite for the Breeders' Cup Classic but finished seventh behind Fort Larned.
2013: six-year-old season
Game on Dude began his six-year-old campaign with consecutive victories in the San Antonio Stakes, Santa Anita Handicap, Charles Town Classic, Hollywood Gold Cup, and Pacific Classic. With his 2013 victories in the Santa Anita Handicap, Hollywood Gold Cup and Pacific Classic, he became the second horse to achieve the "California triple crown" in a single year. The only other horse to achieve this feat was Lava Man.
In the Pacific Classic, where he led from the start, his margin of win was a record 8 1/2 lengths. This was his third try at the Classic. With this win, Game On Dude joined Lava Man's 2006 sweep of all three of Southern California's major handicap races in the same year. This win marked a seven-race win streak, including a 5-for-5 campaign in 2013, and with his latest Grade I win is now the richest active horse in North American racing.