When Run Rudolf took a commanding lead on the final lap of the 1 3/8-mile Fall Classic Handicap on Oct. 4, he was a few furlongs away from cementing his status as the top older male of the 2025 Hastings meet.
Unfortunately, a few moments earlier, the race’s 2024 winner, Apprehend, had clipped heels with another horse and lost his rider, Amadeo Perez. With Perez unconscious on the course and medics tending to him, the race was declared a no contest and the jockeys pulled up their mounts before the turn for home and basically jogged home.
By all accounts, Run Rudolf would have won the Fall Classic for trainer Cindy Krasner, and another 4-year-old Krasner trainee on the rise, What’s Shakin, likely would have held on for second. Only What’s Shakin will compete in Saturday’s closing-day rerun of the $50,000 stakes, however, as Run Rudolf has been retired after fracturing a sesamoid during training.
“It was kind of a sad day,” Krasner said Tuesday. “He came out of the race great and was training well up until yesterday. He broke a sesamoid in the back part of his ankle. He was on a roll and really just coming into himself, but we’ve all seen that happen in this industry.”
As for the decision to declare the initial Fall Classic a no contest, Krasner sounded diplomatic.
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“It was disappointing,” she said. “I can see the situation as it played out. Did they have to do what they did? I guess so. Because of everything that led up to the finish of the race, it wouldn’t have been fair [to keep running]. I understand. Human life comes way before the outcome of a race.”
Prior to Oct. 4, Krasner was salivating at the prospect of running What’s Shakin at the 1 3/8-mile distance, and his performance on the track that day validated her enthusiasm. With the distance of Saturday’s Fall Classic shortend to 1 1/8 miles, Krasner is less bullish.
“Would I have liked to see them come back going a mile and three-eighths? Yes, but I understand the situation,” she said. “If it was three weeks, a month [between races], it would have been a different situation.
“The race needs to play out a little different because there are more horses who would probably prefer to go a mile and an eighth, so he’s up against that situation. But he’ll hold his own. He needs a pace to run at. He’s a little bit of a dumb-dumb and is not the best horse leaving the gate.”
As for Perez, he’s recovering well from his spill, according to Apprehend’s trainer, Barbara Heads.
“He has a slight fracture in his neck,” Heads said. “He just has to be in a neck brace for six weeks.”
Apprehend “bounced out of the race pretty well” in spite of the mishap and will be on hand for Saturday’s retry with Antonio Reyes in the irons. Heads opted not to reenter At Attention, who was running fourth in the Oct. 4 race before it came to a halt, and will instead start 6-year-old Stormy Blue, who earned a career-high 84 Beyer Speed Figure – the best last-out number in this field – in an Oct. 5 allowance win at 1 1/16 miles.
“He won in a really good time,” Heads said. “He set some quick fractions and ran on. He is a nice horse. He’s just been unfortunate with some bad luck earlier this year that kept him on the shelf. He’s at his best right now, so I thought we’d give him a shot.”
Rounding out the field are the 4-year-old gelding Diocles and the talented 3-year-old Rondelito, who will be more competitive at the reduced distance than at 1 3/8 miles. First post on the closing-day card is 2:30 p.m. Pacific.
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