2018 Gamely Stakes Contenders & Odds at Santa Anita Park
The Grade 1 Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday changed significantly Thursday morning when trainer Chad Brown said leading contender Uni will miss the race because of illness.
Sharp Eastern invader Hawksmoor, along with sharp local stakes winner Beau Recall, head a wide open field of seven fillies and mares three and up in this Saturday's Grade I, $300,000 Gamely Stakes, to be contested at a mile and one eighth over the Santa Anita Park turf.
Trained by Arnaud Delacour, Irish-bred Hawksmoor comes off a nose defeat at odds of 1-5 in an ungraded one mile turf stakes at Laurel Park, MD.
Trainer Simon Callaghan's Irish-bred Beau Recall rallied from last to take the Grade II Royal Heroine Stakes under Joel Rosario here on April 7 and will hope to have the same stretch kick as she stretches out a furlong in the Gamely.
2018 Gamely Stakes Odds & Entries
Race 8 on Santa Anita's Saturday card with a Post Time of 7:18 PM
| Entry | Horse | ML Odds | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Madam Dancealot (IRE) | 3-1 | Corey Nakatani | Richard Baltas |
| 2 | Midnight Crossing (IRE) | 10-1 | Brice Blanc | Richard Baltas |
| 3 | Mopotism | 10-1 | Mario Gutierrez | Doug O'Neill |
| 4 | Sophie P (GB) | 12-1 | Kent Desormeaux | James Cassidy |
| 5 | ||||
| 6 | Beau Recall (IRE) | 7-2 | Flavien Prat | Simon Callaghan |
| 7 | Hawksmoor (IRE) | 9-5 | Julien Leparoux | Arnaud Delacour |
| 8 | Madame Stripes (ARG) | 4-1 | Rafael Bejarano | Neil Drysdale |
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HAWKSMOOR
A 5-year-old Irish-bred mare, she'll be making her second foray to Southern California, as she was second, beaten one length, in the one mile turf, Grade I Matriarch Stakes two starts back at Del Mar on Nov. 26. A winner of a pair of graded turf stakes last year at Belmont Park, at 1 1/16 miles on May 13, 2017 and a mile and a quarter on June 9, 2017, Hawksmoor has been a gem of consistency in her eight stateside starts, winning two, finishing second three times and third once.
A Group II and Group III winner in Europe, she is 17-5-3-5 overall and rates top billing with regular rider Julien Leparoux up. Best suited when on or near the lead, Hawksmoor leads all Gamely entrants with earnings of $859,739.
Owner: Lael Stables
Trainer: Arnaud Delacour
BEAU RECALL
Best suited when far back early, this 4-year-old Irish-bred filly would obviously be well served by a fast pace and it appears that could be the case in Saturday's Gamely Stakes.
Beau Recall earned a 105 speed figure in her last start when winning the Royal Heroine Stakes on this turf course. In that race, Beau Recall put in a very strong rally from last of nine and was still seventh with an eighth of a mile to go, passing six horses in the stretch to win.
Although winless in three tries at a mile and one eighth on turf, Beau Recall was second, beaten a nose at the distance five starts back in the Grade I Del Mar Oaks and was second, beaten only a neck, in the Grade II Honeymoon Stakes seven races back here on June 17, 2017.
A winner of the Grade II Royal Heroine Stakes here on April 7 with Joel Rosario, she'll get the services of leading rider Flavien Prat in the Gamely.
Owner: Slam Dunk Racing and Medallion Racing
Trainer: Simon Callaghan
MADAM DANCEALOT
Madam Dancealot won the similar Santa Ana Stakes at this distance on the Santa Anita turf in March, rallying from 14 lengths back early to win by a half-length and earn a strong 112 Equibase Speed Figure.
Two races prior to that, Madam Dancealot earned a career-best 114 figure for finishing second in the American Oaks. If she can improve upon her seventh-place effort last month at a shorter distance in the Distaff Turf Mile, she could easily be in the thick of the action at the finish.
Owner: Slam Dunk Racing
Trainer: Richard Baltas
UNI - Scratched
Uni will miss the race because of illness.
Favored in three out of her five stateside starts, this 4-year-old English-bred daughter of More Than Ready took the Grade II Sands Point Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf three starts back at Belmont Park on Sept. 16 and has two wins and one second at the distance overall.
Last month, Uni returned from six months off and won as if she had never been away from the races when victorious in the Plenty of Grace Stakes with a 105 speed figure that was three points off her career best.
With regular pilot Irad Ortiz, Jr. shipping in to ride, Uni will be seeking her first Grade I win in her second start off of a lengthy freshening.
Third, beaten two lengths in her U.S. debut five starts back in the Grade I Belmont Oaks Invitational, Uni is 11-4-3-2 overall with earnings of $547,880.
Owner: M. Dubb, Head of Plains Partners, LLC, Robert LaPenta and Bethlehem Stables, LLC
Trainer: Chad Brown
About the Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita Park
The Gamely Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares age three and older over a distance of �e<1 1�,,8 miles on the turf run annually at Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, California.
The race was inaugurated in 1939 as the Long Beach Handicap at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California) over a dusiatnce of 1 mile. Then event was dormant until 1968 when it was run on the dirt for three-year-olds and older over a distance of �e<1 1�,,16 miles. The following year the race was conditioned for fillies and mares at the distance of 1 mile.
In 1973 the distance was set at the current route of �e<1 1�,,8 miles with a classification of Grade II.
The race was renamed for the 1976 running to honor the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame filly Gamely who had died in 1975. It was run in two divisions in 1971 and again in 1978.
In 1983 the event was upgraded to Grade I.
Following the closure of Hollywood Park, the race moved to Santa Anita Park in 2014.
