It appeared trainer Natasha Perez was getting the win in the third running of the $35,000 Air Born Leader Overnight Stakes Thursday with TW Trumps Secrets, but it was stablemate Escondido Gold and Alberto Ceron who came charging up at the end to win the race, giving Perez a one-two finish in the 350-yard dash.
Escondido Gold got a perfect break from post seven. It took the gelding a few strides to get into full gear as TW Trumps Secrets and Diego Villamil Bocanegra vied for the top spot from the center of the track with Nachor Secret and Martin Munoz battling along the inside.
In the second half of the sprint, Escondido Gold came to life, swooping in to score the victory with a big finish for the win over TW Trumps Secrets. HF Firecracker and Giovani Vazquez Gomez finished third in the sprint timed in 17.665 seconds.
Escondido Gold paid $16.60 for the win. The four-year-old son of Escondido Beach is owned by Robert Godsey and was bred and raised by Tom Wylie. It was his first win of 2026 and his seventh overall, adding to a bankroll that now exceeds $155,000.
It was his second stakes victory of his career and the second time Ceron had been aboard, guiding him to a second-place finish in the Easys Night Beat Overnight Stakes the previous start.
The race is named in honor of uber-tough Air Born Leader, who scored numerous stakes victories in Indiana with nearly $500,000 on his card when he retired in 2016. Randy Thompson bred and owned the Leader of the Class grey gelding during his career.
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