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| GARRETT GOMEZ |
| Coady Photography |
by Jeff Apel
Jockey Garrett Gomez will try to join an elite group when he rides multiple graded stakes winner Whatsthescript (Ire) in the $400,000 Citation Handicap (G1), a 1 1/16-mile race on Friday, opening day of Hollywood Park’s Turf Festival.
Gomez is a two-time winner of the Citation, and will become the sixth jockey to win the race three times if Whatsthescript prevails. Gomez’s previous wins in the race occurred in 1998 aboard Military and in 2006 with Ashkal Way (Ire).
Bill Shoemaker, Gary Stevens, Patrick Valenzuela, Chris McCarron, and Laffit Pincay Jr. all are three-time winners of the Citation.
Whatsthescript enters off a third-place finish under Gomez in the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) on October 25 at the Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita Park. Gomez's first ride aboard the Royal Applause (GB) colt was in the Del Mar Mile Handicap (G2) on August 24, which Whatsthescript won by three-quarters of a length.
Trained by John Sadler for owner Tommy Town Thoroughbreds, Whatsthescript opened his four-year-old campaign with a win under Isaias Enriquez in the American Handicap (G2) on June 28 at Hollywood Park, a race in which Gomez finished third aboard Citation foe Hyperbaric. Whatsthescript finished second in the Eddie Read Handicap (G1) on July 20 at Del Mar prior to winning the Del Mar Mile.
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The field, in post-position order, with (sire), jockey, weight, and trainer:
1. Hyperbaric (Sky Classic), Tyler Baze, 120, Julio C. Canani;
2. Galantas (Tale of the Cat), Jeremy Rose, 116, H. Graham Motion;
3. Ferneley [IRE] (Ishiguru), Victor Espinoza, 114, Ben D. A. Cecil;
4. Lord Admiral (El Prado [IRE]), Alex O. Solis, 118, Charles O'Brien;
5. Becrux [ITY] (Glen Jordan [GB]), Mike E. Smith, 117, John W. Sadler;
6. Rebellion [GB] (Mozart [IRE]), Rafael Bejarano, 118, H. Graham Motion;
7. Medici Code [GB] (Medicean [GB]), Martin A. Pedroza, 113, Darrell Vienna;
8. Proudinsky [GER] (Silvano [GER]), Jose Valdivia, Jr., 116, Robert J. Frankel;
9. Whatsthescript [IRE] (Royal Applause [GB]), Garrett K. Gomez, 120, John W. Sadler; and
10. Formal Decree [GER] (Diktat [GB]), Jean-Luc Samyn, 117, Saeed bin Suroor.
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