Gamine Wins Great Lady M Stakes By 10 Lengths

Heavily-favored Gamine added to her glowing resume with a 10-length romp in the $200,000, Grade 2 Great Lady M Stakes Monday – the final day of the Summer Thoroughbred Festival – at Los Alamitos in Cypress, Calif.

The 1-5 choice in the field of five, the 4-year-old daughter of Into Mischief and the Kafwain mare Peggy Jane broke sharply under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, was headed briefly to her inside by 3-1 second choice Edgeway nearing the turn, then took charge from there to win without ever being asked for her best.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert for owner Michael Lund Petersen, Gamine is now 8-for-9 with earnings of $1,406,500. Six of her victories have come in graded events.

Gamine paid $2.40 and $2.10 in a race where there was no show wagering. She attracted $248,224 of the $292,855 wagered to place in the Great Lady M, creating a minus place pool of $33,822. She completed the 6 ½ furlongs in 1:14.98.

Bella Vita, the second longest shot in the field at 22-1, edged Road Rager, the longest price on the board at 45-1, by a neck for second. The place price on Bella Vita was $9.

Edgeway and Qahira, who is also trained by Baffert, completed the order of finish. Candura, Dynasty of Her Own and Eyes Open were scratched earlier in the day.

“It was nice to see a lot of people come to the paddock to get a good luck at her,'' said Baffert, who won the Great Lady M for the fourth time after scoring previously with Fantastic Style (2015) and Marley's Freedom (2018-2019).

“That's what great horses do. When she runs I get nervous and I'm more relieved after the race. She looked great and I'm glad she came through.

“She might be able to stretch out. She's getting older and more mature. That's one option I've been thinking about, but I don't know what we'll do next. I want to see how she comes out of this and I'll let her tell me.''

Velazquez, who has been aboard for all of Gamine's graded successes, is now 1-for-1 at Los Alamitos after Monday.

“I know she's quick and the other horse (third-place finisher Road Rager) showed speed and I knew the horse to beat (Edgeway) was inside of me,'' he said. “She relaxed and I let her do her thing around the turn and that was it from there.''

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Gamine Resurfaces in Great Lady M

Last year's GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint winner and Eclipse champion Gamine (Into Mischief) looms large in Monday's GII Great Lady M S. at Los Alamitos. The Bob Baffert-trained 'TDN Rising Star' has been perfect in two tries this year–she bested stablemate Qahira (Cairo Prince) by five lengths in Santa Anita's GIII Las Flores S. Apr. 4, and was a facile winner of the GI Derby City Distaff at Churchill May 1 ahead of three next-out stakes winners. The $1.8-million Fasig-Tipton Midlantic topper figures to be extremely tough to beat and will be a very short price, but she still faces some formidable foes, particularly a pair from John Sadler and Hronis Racing.

Edgeway (Competitive Edge) is four-for-six and has never been off the board, having paired up 94 Beyer Speed Figures in a Santa Anita optional claimer in February and the Carousel S. at Oaklawn Apr. 10. She defeated MGSW Frank's Rockette (Into Mischief) in the Carousel. Edgeway's stablemate Candura (Into Mischief) was also last seen in Hot Springs. A debut-winning juvenile at Del Mar, the now 5-year-old missed all of 2019 and 2020, but shook off the rust to annex a pair of optional claimers in April.

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Gamine, Hudson Ridge Among Nominees For Great Lady M. Stakes, Los Alamitos Derby

Multiple Grade I winner Gamine heads 15 nominees to the $200,000-guaranteed Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes while Hudson Ridge, fresh off consecutive turf victories – including the Cinema Stakes – is among eight 3-year-olds nominated to the $150,000-guaranteed Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby.

The two races will be run for the eighth time at Los Alamitos Race Course in Cypress, Calif. The Los Alamitos Derby will be offered Saturday, July 3 while the Great Lady M. will be contested Monday, July 5, the final day of the Summer Thoroughbred Festival.

Owned by Michael L. Peterson and trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, Gamine has won seven of eight starts, including Grade 1 tallies in 2020 in the Acorn at Belmont Park, the Test at Saratoga, the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint at Keeneland, and the Derby City Distaff last month at Churchill Downs.

The 4-year-old daughter of Into Mischief and the Kafwain mare Peggy Jane has banked $1,286,500.

Baffert, who has won the Great Lady M. three times at Los Alamitos – Fantastic Style (2015) and Marley's Freedom (2018-2019),– also nominated recent impressive maiden winner Illumination and Qahira, who has won half of her 10 starts and earned $249,400 for Baoma Corporation.

A daughter of Cairo Prince and the Bates Motel mare Motel Lass, the 5-year-old mare owns a local victory. She won an optional claimer at Los Alamitos during the 2019 Summer Thoroughbred Festival.

The other nominees include Angelcents, Bella Vita, Candura, Dynasty of Her Own, Edgeway, Eyes Open, Five Pics Please, Miss Stormy D, Road Rager, Scotish Star, and Stellar Sound.

Owned by Baffert's wife Jill and Double L Racing, Hudson Ridge, an American Pharoah colt out of the Galileo mare Shell House earned his maiden win in the Cinema May 23, then returned 26 days later to win an optional claimer as the 9-5 favorite.

An earner of $112,940 in six starts, Hudson Ridge has raced only once on dirt, finishing fourth in a one-mile maiden contest March 5.

Baffert's other nominees to the Los Alamitos Derby, which he has won four times in a row and five of the last six, are Defunded, runner-up behind The Chosen Vron in the Affirmed June 13, and Classier, who was a distant third in that Grade III.

The other nominees are Ingest, It's My House, Mr. Impossible, Back Ring Luck, and Mucho Del Oro.

Entries for the Los Alamitos Derby will be taken Wednesday, June 30 while the Great Lady M. will be drawn Friday, July 2.

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Los Alamitos’ Summer Thoroughbred Festival Begins Friday

The first Thoroughbred meet of 2021 at Los Alamitos will begin Friday, June 25.

The seven-day Summer Thoroughbred Festival will continue through Monday, July 5. Racing will be conducted Friday-Sunday (June 25-27) the first week and Friday-Monday (July 2-5) the second week. Post time each racing day will be 1 p.m.

The season will be highlighted by a pair of graded stakes races – the Grade 2, $200,000 Great Lady M. for fillies and mares (3-year-olds & up) at 6 ½ furlongs and the Grade 3, $150,000 Los Alamitos Derby for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles.

The Great Lady M. will be run Monday, July 5 while the Los Alamitos Derby will be offered Saturday, July 3.

The wagering menu includes the Pick Six – with the traditional 70-30 split – a pair of $1 Pick 4's – races 2-5 and the final four races – as well as the extremely popular Players' Pick 5 – a 50-cent minimum wager with a reduced 14% takeout rate which is offered on the first five races.

Tickets can be purchased online at https://losalamitos.com/.

Los Alamitos offers free general parking and preferred parking is $5.

The July 4 program will feature a live money handicapping contest with two seats available to the 2022 National Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas.

The other stakes race during the meet is the $100,000 Bertrando Stakes for 3-year-olds & up bred or sired in California.

Entries for the Bertrando, which will be run at one mile, will be taken Wednesday, June 23.

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