Thought Process goes to the front to take the G1 Gamely, Benoit Photo
Santa Anita Park Press
ARCADIA, CA —Thought Process became a newly minted Grade I winner Monday at Santa Anita when rolling to a comfortable 2 ¾-length victory as the favorite in the $300,000 Gamely Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles on turf.
With Hector Berrios aboard, Thought Process (7-5) enjoyed an ideal stalking pacesetter Rashmi (7-2) in second through fractions of 23.80, 48.45 and 1:12.84 for six furlongs. Entering the stretch, Thought Process ranged up to Rashmi and then kicked clear to win going away in a time of 1:47.51. Rashmi, ridden by Kazushi Kimura aboard for trainer Jonathan Thomas, held second. She was followed by Take A Breath (10-1) and Hang the Moon (7-2).
“Once I came up to the other filly (Rashmi), I asked her and she responded,” Berrios said. This was the first Gamely win for the 39-year-old native of Chile.
Thought Process is trained by Phil D’Amato for owners Estate of Brereton C. Jones, Little Red Feather Racing and Madaket Stables. The late Brereton C. Jones, former governor of Kentucky, bred the 4-year-old filly by Collected.
For D’Amato, this was his second time winning the Gamely. He also won it in 2023 with Macadamia. “I thought we were in a really good position and I could see she was nice and comfortable,” D’Amato said. “I could see the horse on the lead (Rashmi) was also going very easy. When Hector asked her in the stretch, she responded and opened up. It was a hand ride from there.”
Thought Process improved to 10: 7-0-2 with more than $680,000 in earnings. Prior to the Gamely, Thought Process won the GII Buena Vista going one mile on turf on Feb.7 at Santa Anita. That effort followed more than a six-month layoff.
“She got real sick, that’s why she missed some time,” said Billy Koch of Little Red Feather. “So to run her back in a race like this, it was pretty incredible.”
Prior to the layoff, Thought Process last year won the GII San Clemente at Del Mar. As a 2-year-old she won both the GIII Surfer Girl at Santa Anita and Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf.
“We’ll put our heads together for the next steps,” D’Amato said. “She has been training so good on the dirt, we’ll see what we do at Del Mar. We’d like to get her to the Breeders’ Cup (Filly & Mare Turf) and that would be a mile and quarter (at Keeneland).”
Thought Process paid $4.80, $2.80 and $2.40. Rashmi returned $4.20 and $3.00. Take A Breath, with Emisael Jaramillo aboard for trainer Mark Glatt, paid $4.80.
GRADE I, $300,000 GAMELY STAKES QUOTES
JOCKEY QUOTES
HECTOR BERRIOS, THOUGHT PROCESS, WINNER: “She is so much better. Once I came up to the other filly (Rashmi), I asked her and she responded great.”
TRAINER QUOTES
PHIL D’AMATO, THOUGHT PROCESS, WINNER: “I thought we were in a really good position and I could see she was nice and comfortable. I could see the horse on the lead (Rashmi) was also going very easy. When Hector asked her in the stretch, she responded and opened up. It was a hand ride from there. She loves the turf here at Santa Anita and the extra eighth-of-a-mile wasn’t a factor. We’ll put our heads together for the next steps. She has been training so good on the dirt, so we’ll see what we do at Del Mar. We’d like to get her to the Breeders’ Cup and that would be a mile and quarter. The key is getting her to relax. She has been a lot better from age three to four and that translated to more distance.”
OWNER QUOTES
BILLY KOCH, LITTLE RED FEATHER RACING, THOUGHT PROCESS, WINNER: “It was pretty special. Someone asked me what the dream scenario was and we just saw it. It was perfect. Hector said she relaxed so beautifully and he was really patient. He didn’t really turn her loose at the quarter pole, he kind of waited until they turned for home and obviously when you are watching a race like that you can tell he had a lot of horse. It was just a great effort.
“She got real sick, that’s why she missed some time. So to run her back in a race like that, it was pretty incredible.”
NOTES: The winning owners are Estate of Brereton C. Jones, Little Red Feather Racing and Madaket Stables LLC.
