Gaming

Gaming turned heads in his career debut Aug. 11, 2024, at Del Mar, romping by 5 ½ lengths in a 6 ½-furlong maiden race on dirt for trainer Bob Baffert and the “Three Amigos” partnership of Mike Pegram, David Watson, and Paul Weitman. The colt from the first crop of champion Game Winner easily dispatched eight opponents and was subsequently elevated to compete at the Grade 1 level along with two other Baffert-trained colts in the Del Mar Futurity Sept. 8, the closing-day feature of Del Mar’s summer meet.

In the seven-furlong Futurity, new rider Flavien Prat settled Gaming into a stalking position hugging the rail behind early leader and stablemate Getaway Car, who set a contested pace into the turn. Prat angled his mount out and took aim on Getaway Car at the quarter pole, and Gaming moved up and past that foe to take command in early stretch. Under strong urging, he remained resolute to the finish, holding a rallying McKinzie Street at bay to win by 1 ¾ lengths and remain undefeated.

Gaming tasted defeat for the first time in the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Presented by TAA when he finished second to stablemate Citizen Bull in the $2 million race at Del Mar. He then finished his 2-year-old campaign with a third-place finish as the beaten favorite in the Grade 2 $200,000 Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 14. The third-place finish awarded Gaming three qualifying points on the road to the 2025 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve, raising his total to 18 points earned on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard during his juvenile campaign.

In his first start at age 3, Gaming finished eighth in the Southwest Stakes Jan. 25 at Oaklawn Park, a race where he was rank early and had to check in the first turn.

Gaming is out of the stakes-placed, winning Johannesburg mare So Stylish and is from the family of European champion colt One Cool Cat.