Gas Me Up Motors for a quick win from Hernandez

Many California owners prefer to keep their horses close to home, where they can watch them race. But Justin Border and Ryan Exline know the odds of being Canadian bred and shipped successfully Gas me up Unpleasant Woodbine for multiple breeds.

On December 29, Gas Me Up returned to California as a more mature five-year-old and was shot Santa Anita Park‘s hill course to capture the Joe Hernandez Stakes (G2T). Santa Anita Parkcompleting a last-to-first rally in the field of 10 older horses.

Gas Me Up was well behind the early pace of 80-1 Schwarzmeier which established initial fractions of :20.91 for a quarter mile and :42.82 for a half mile. As horses began to challenge the leaders, jockey Mirco Demuro excited Gas Me Up far outside. They came roaring up deep into the stretch and Gas Me Up’s momentum carried him to a 1 1/4 length victory over Summer which also closed well back. A third closer, Uncle Jo finished third.

Gas Me Up stopped the timer in a quick 1:10.88 on firm grass. The Santa Anita course record is 1:10.52, set by Noble reflection in 2023. Gas Me Up went as the fifth pick at 13-1 in the overflow field of 10. Schwarzmeier was one of two also eligible players who entered after the scratch of Imagination And Invincible Keen .

Border and Exline race Gas Me Up on behalf of their Exline-Border Racing together with partners Michael Jawl, Aaron Kennedy and Tom Zwiesler. Trainers Peter Eurton and Kevin Attard have worked together on the 5-year-old gelding’s career. Eurton started him in California, where he earned his first in 2022 Sea and finished fourth in the Zuma Beach Stakes (G3T) after a difficult early trip.

“We felt like he was a horse on the post,” Border said. “He had a few different injuries and we had to give him time. But we always believed in his talent.”

Gas Me Up started at Woodbine as a four-year-old and won in his only start that year. He then put it all together in 2025, capturing the King Edward Stakes (G2T) and finishing third in the Woodbine Mile (G1T).

“He won a Grade 2 there and ran fantastic in the Woodbine Mile and earned his way into the Breeders’ Cup,” Border said. “He ran great there. It was just a tough position to overcome. Kevin, Pete and all of us thought he would be great on the mound.”

Gas Me Up finished 12th in the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1T) at Del Mar, closing from far back to finish seventh at 59-1. The Hernandez was his first attempt down Santa Anita Hill.

Exline-Border, which has worked with previous runners as Eclipse Award winners Champagne room And Storm the Court purchased Gas Me Up for $140,000 from breeder Sam-Son Farm during the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Gas Me Up is out of a homebred Sam-Son Chic sensation a stakes-placed daughter of Smart attack whose foals are, among other things, stakes-winning Give it a spin a full brother of Gas Me Up.

Give me gas Thoughtful And Elysian field are winners of the 2025 ranking, father of Hard spun also father of Eclipse Award winner Searching . Hard Spun is scheduled for the 2026 season at $20,000 at Darley near Lexington.

Sumter settled for second in a row for the second year in a row in the Hernandez, while Rank 1 seed Zio Jo earned another stakes ranking. Favorite Motor could not sustain a bid between horses and finished seventh.

Earlier on the Santa Anita card, 2-year-old fillies met a mile away on the lawn in the Blue Norther stakes. Two necks separated the top three, such as The City of Light the 9-5 favorite, scored over in 1:37.52 Wild as the West of Peanut butter bombe third. Flavien Prat rode La Ville Lumiere, a Kentucky-bred daughter of City of light —Malibu ride Through Mort MM . Michael McCarthy trains the filly for owners Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Sabby Racing LLC and Ken Reimer.