Golden State Series King Glorious Stakes

© BENOIT PHOTOS

Jungle Racing’s Straight Up G wins the King Glorious Stakes at Los Alamitos

STRAIGHT TALKING

BY TRACY GANTZ

Few California-breds not named California Chrome will get as much publicity as Straight Up G did in winning the $102,000 King Glorious Stakes at Los Alamitos Dec. 12. Tat’s because Jim Rome the sports talk-show host owns and bred the colt, and he tweeted the victory to his 1.2 million followers.

“We own the mare, and we own a part of the sire—this is the most personal thing ever,” Rome told TVG in an interview he retweeted. “Mizdirection was the most surreal thing in my life. Shared Belief was one of the greatest things ever. But this is so personal to have a homebred run in a stakes and win like that. It feels incredible.”

Rome and his wife, Janet, were in the partnerships that owned national champion Shared Belief and twotime Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) winner Mizdirection. But they bred Straight Up G, a 2019 son of Straight Fire—Gidget Girl, by Sky Mesa in the name of their Jungle Racing.

Straight Up G began his career by fnishing fourth in the Oct. 9 maiden race won by Slow Down Andy, who went on to win the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2). Straight Up G broke his maiden in his second start by a whopping 51⁄4 lengths before trying stakes competition in the one-mile King Glorious.

“Tat was a big ask,” Rome told TVG. “We brought him back in 21 days. I didn’t know whether or not he wanted that second turn.”

Straight Up G answered that question emphatically. Te second choice to favored Finneus, he went to the front immediately for jockey Ricardo Gonzalez, stayed there throughout, and beat Finneus by 31⁄2 lengths in 1:36.88. Fast Draw Munnings fnished third.

“He broke very sharp,” said Gonzalez, “and when we got to the frst turn, he was moving his ears back and forth so I knew it was game over right there. I knew it was going to be a stroll in the park.”

Rome was especially complimentary of trainer Richard Baltas, not only in the way Baltas trains the horses but also in the way he takes care of them.

“Richie takes good care of the horses,” Rome said. “Richie understands that the horse comes frst. We feel really strongly about this—the horse has to come frst.”

Straight Fire ran second in the 2016 Del Mar Futurity (G1) and third in the FrontRunner Stakes (G1) for the Romes and partners. Te stallion stands at Legacy Ranch, and Straight Up G is from his frst crop.

Also a Jungle Racing homebred, Gidget Girl didn’t race, but the Romes also bred and race her 2017 foal, a Kentucky-bred flly by Fast Anna named Gidgetta, who has earned $154,309.

Te future for Straight Up G looks promising, as does the chance of his getting even more publicity from his very enthusiastic owner.

Jim Rome, third left, and wife, Janet, celebrate their homebred’s King Glorious Stakes victory with trainer Richard Baltas, right, and jockey Ricardo Gonzalez