Chantal Sutherland Jocked Off Game On Dude

Game Over - Chantal Sutherland has lost the ride on Game On Dude

In a bit of a sad, but not all that surprising announcement it’s been revealed that America’s golden girl of Racing Chantal Sutherland has lost the ride on Breeder’s Cup Classic favourite Game On Dude.

Bob Baffert’s star horse will now be ridden by Rafael Bejarano as the Baffert team bid to go one better than last year and land the Classic in their own backyard.

Sutherland was widely criticised for her ride on Game On Dude in last month’s Pacific Classic as she dropped a rein in the closing moments of the race and ended up getting collared by Dullahan.

There were many commenting in the aftermath of that race that she’d lose the ride as a result and those views have been proven correct now.

Baffert is quoted as saying "Rafael is our main rider and we wanted to have our number one rider on our number one horses. With the big fall races coming up, we just felt comfortable having Rafael on Game On Dude” as a way of explanation for the change.

Sutherland has already tweeted “I am sad I have lost the opportunity to ride the "Dude"...I'm sure he will continue to be the champion I know him to be” so is clearly disappointed to have lost the ride on her flagship mount.

Game On Dude is unbeaten in four starts at Santa Anita, home to this year’s Breeder’s Cup, and looks to hold an outstanding chance in an open year of atoning for his narrow second to Drosselmeyer last year, even more so now with one of North America’s top jockeys on board.