Gamely Stakes

Mission accomplished. Three months ago, after Thought Process (f, 4, Collected--Creative Thinking, by Creative Cause) kickstarted her 4-year-old campaign with a win in the Feb. 28 GII Buena Vista Stakes at Santa Anita, Billy Koch of Little Red Feather Racing said, "Ultimately, our goal has always been the Gamely." On Monday, that vision became reality with jockey Hector Berrios pumping his arm in celebration as Thought Process crossed the wire much the best in the 1 1/8-mile GI Gamely Stakes on Santa Anita's Memorial Day program. It marked the chestnut's...

After striking gold beyond the boundaries of the Golden State with Journalism (Curlin) in the GI Preakness Stakes a little more than a week ago, jockey Umberto Rispoli and trainer Michael McCarthy are liable to find themselves front and center on the special Memorial Day program at Santa Anita with Formidable Man (City of Light) in the GI Shoemaker Mile Stakes. And if statistics are anything to go by, they should prove tough to handle, as the duo has combined to win at something around 27% at the Great Race...

Santa Anita will play host to three Grade I races, while Grade III action features the return of a champion at Churchill Downs and a talented Louisiana-bred attempting to make the grade at Lone Star Park during holiday stakes action Monday. The GI Shoemaker Mile S. at Santa Anita is set to be the first of 41 Breeders' Cup Challenge series races in North America this year. A field of 11 goes postward seeking the winner's share of the $500,000, as well as an automatic berth in the GI Breeders'...

Going Global (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) will put her perfect five-for-five record over the Santa Anita lawn to the test as the 8-5 morning-line favorite in the GI Gamely S. at Santa Anita Monday. The 4-year-old was first or second in seven of eight starts last term, with her lone off-the-board finish coming in the off-turf GI American Oaks in December. Her 2021 campaign included wins in the GI Del Mar Oaks--at the Gamely's nine-furlong distance--and in the GII Goldikova S. She opened 2022 with a win in the one-mile GII...

Maxim Rate (Exchange Rate) strode to the lead inside the final furlong and held off the late-closing duo of La Signare (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) and Bodhicitta (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) to score the first Grade I victory of her career in the GI Gamely S. at Santa Anita Monday. Dismissed at 13-1, Maxim Rate rated kindly in fourth while racing one off the rail as heavily favored Charmaine's Mia (The Factor) took the field through fractions of :22.82 and :45.94. Maxim Rate ranged up three wide at the top of the...

The GI Gamely S. looks like a face off between Chad Brown and Richard Baltas as they each saddle a strong pair of runners in this Memorial Day event at Santa Anita. Baltas has the home court advantage and he sends out GI American Oaks victress Lady Prancealot (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}) with East Coast-based rider John Velazquez in the irons. Also victorious in Keeneland's GIII Valley View S. last October, she was most recently fourth to the reopposing Keeper Ofthe Stars (Midnight Lute) in the GII Buena Vista S....