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Gam’s Mission Gives Trainer Cherie DeVaux First Graded Victory In Regret

Carrying jockey Adam Beschizza and the yellow and black silks of Lazy F Ranch made famous by Hall of Fame gelding Forego in the 1970s, Gam's Mission rallied down the middle of the Churchill Downs turf course in Louisville, Ky., to win Saturday's Grade 3 Regret Stakes for 3-year-old fillies. The win gave Cherie DeVaux her initial graded stakes victory since taking out her trainer's license in 2018.

A daughter of the Galileo stallion Noble Mission (a full brother to Frankel), Gam's Mission covered 1 1/8 miles on good turf in 1:51.02, winning by three-quarters of a length. Spanish Loveaffair, the 7-5 favorite, finished second after battling on the front end with Postnup for much of the race. Flown finished third, with Oyster Box fourth in the field of eight, followed by Barista, Munnyfor Ro, Line Dancing and Postnup. Saranya scratched.

Gam's Mission raced in fifth early after being bumped at the start by Postnup, who veered outwardly from the number six post position and then raced to the front to secure an early advantage over Spanish Loveaffair. Postnup went the opening quarter mile in :24.55 and the half in :49.56 under pressure from the favorite, who put Postnup away after six furlongs in 1:14.27.

Beschizza swung Gam's Mission out for a clear run at the top of the stretch, battled with Spanish Loveaffair and Flown inside the eighth pole after a mile in 1:38.90, then gradually edged away approaching the wire. Flown was beaten just a head for second.

The win was the third consecutive triumph for Gam's Mission, whose only defeat came at the hands of eventual G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Aunt Pearl in a Sept. 1, 2020, maiden race at Churchill Downs. She won her 2021 debut in a maiden race at Fair Grounds on March 21, then came back for an allowance victory at Churchill on May 8.

Gam's Mission was produced from the War Pass mare, Auntie Martha, a Lazy F Ranch homebred presumably named after Martha Gerry, who campaigned three-time Horse of the Year Forego and was honored as an Exemplar of Racing at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., just prior to her death in 2007. Gerry was the aunt of William S. Farish, who stood Noble Mission at his Lane's End prior to the horse's export to Japan.

Cornelia Corbett, the daughter of Martha Gerry, continues to race a handful of horses in the name of Lazy F Ranch. Her son, Rick, is a partner in Gam's Mission, the first horse he bought into, according to Bill Farish, son of the Lane's End owner.

Cherie DeVaux, right, in the winner's circle with husband David Ingordo and jockey Adam Beschizza following the Regret

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Summertime Oaks: McPeek Hoping For Cleaner Trip For Crazy Beautiful

Kenny McPeek, who captured the 2020 Santa Anita Oaks with that year's Eclipse Award champion 3-year-old filly Swiss Skydiver, seeks another Oaks victory at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., on Sunday in the Grade 2 Summertime Oaks with Crazy Beautiful, who, like Swiss Skydiver, will be ridden by Mike Smith.

Crazy Beautiful, a gray daughter of Liam's Map, is coming off a disappointing but eventful 10th-place finish against 12 rivals in the G1 Kentucky Oaks on April 30, when she was seriously impeded at the start.

“It was a pretty good case of bumper cars,” McPeek said by phone from Churchill Downs. “She got kind of mangled leaving there and again in the middle of the race. It seemed like nothing went right.

“Obviously, there will be a lot less traffic on Sunday (with five horses going 1 1/16 miles) than her last race. She's a classy filly who's already won a Grade 2 (the Gulfstream Park Oaks on March 27, prior to the Kentucky Oaks), so we felt like this was a good spot for her. We're excited to hopefully getting her back to her winning ways.”

With McPeek busy back east with the likes of Swiss Skydiver, who runs in the G1 Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park on June 5, Crazy Beautiful is being cared for at Santa Anita by trainer Karen Headley.

“Bruce (Karen's late father) and Karen are longtime friends,” McPeek said. “I've shipped into their barns for years. She'll saddle her and handle all the details.”

Bruce Headley was a charismatic and colorful trainer whose most accomplished runner was Kona Gold, Eclipse Award champion sprinter of 2000. He set a six-furlong track record of 1:07.77 that year winning the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs.

“The old man was a great guy,” McPeek said. “I always had a lot of respect for him as a horseperson.”

The Summertime Oaks is race eight of nine with a 1 p.m. first post time: Lady Aces, Umberto Rispoli, 4-1; Crazy Beautiful, Mike Smith, 6-5; $4,000 supplemental entry Plum Sexy, Abel Cedillo, 20-1; Soothsay, Flavien Prat, 4-5; and Absolute Scenes, Trevor McCarthy, 50-1.

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Streaking Charmaine’s Mia Bidding For First Grade 1 In Gamely

Phil D'Amato's streaking Charmaine's Mia, in search of her fourth consecutive graded stakes win, heads a field of nine fillies and mares 3 and up in Monday's Grade 1, $300,000 Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif. To be contested at 1 1/8 miles on turf, the Gamely, originally held at Hollywood Park, will be run for the 58th time on Monday.

One of three Grade 1 stakes, the Gamely could be the best betting race on a nine-race Memorial Day program, which kicks off with first post time at 1 p.m. PT.

The Richard Baltas-trained Going to Vegas and Brendan Walsh's French-bred La Signare lend considerable depth to the Gamely, which was won last year by Jonathan Wong's longshot Keeper Ofthe Stars, who will also suit up for this year's renewal.

A 2 ½-length winner of the G3, six-furlong turf Las Cienegas Stakes in her first start for D'Amato three races back on Jan. 9, Charmaine's Mia stretched out to victories going a mile on grass in both the G2 Buena Vista Stakes Feb. 20 and Royal Heroine on April 3. Off as the 3-5 favorite in the Royal Heroine, Charmaine's Mia was in complete gate to wire control, winning by a half length.

A 5-year-old mare by top sprinter The Factor, Charmaine's Mia, who had been based at Woodbine Race Course prior to joining D'Amato's stable late last year, had only been around two turns once prior to winning the Buena Vista in what was her 26th career start.

Owned by Agave Racing Stable, Medallion Racing and Rockin Robin Racing Stables, Charmaine's Mia, who will be ridden for the third consecutive time by Flavien Prat, has earned three consecutive Beyer Speed Figures of 99, an overall mark of 28-7-4-2 and earnings of $472,976.

Ridden for the first time by Umberto Rispoli and a runaway 3 ¾-length winner of the G3 Santa Ana Stakes at a mile and one quarter on grass March 27, Going to Vegas appears to be in the best form of her career for Baltas and owners Abbondanza Racing, LLC, Medallion Racing and MyRacehorse.

With Rispoli set to ride her back, Going to Vegas, a 4-year-old filly by Goldencents, was claimed for $50,000 nine starts back, seeks her second stakes victory in the Gamely. With an overall mark of 18-4-8-2, she has earnings of $283,751.

Third, beaten 2 ¼ lengths over a yielding turf in the G1 Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland April 10, 6-year-old La Signare seeks her first graded stakes win since taking a G3 at 1 1/8 miles on grass at Belmont Park on June 7, 2018. Often close but a winner of just one out of 13 starts since then, La Signare appears to be a dedicated deep closer that would certainly benefit from a lively pace. Owned by Madaket Stables, LLC, Tim and Anna Cambron and Bradley Thoroughbreds, La Signare, who will be ridden for the first time by Mike Smith, is 17-3-2-4 overall with earnings of $345,576.

GRADE 1 GAMELY STAKES WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS
IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 9 of 9 Approximate post time 5 p.m. PT

La Signare—Mike Smith—122
Charmaine's Mia—Flavien Prat—124
Raymundos Secret—Mario Gutierrez—124
Going to Vegas—Umberto Rispoli—122
Red Lark—Ricardo Gonzalez—124
Keeper Ofthe Stars—Abel Cedillo—122
Maxim Rate—Juan Hernandez—124
Stela Star—Jose Valdivia, Jr.—122
Bodhicitta—Trevor McCarthy—124

First post time for a nine-race card on Monday is at 1 p.m. For additional information, please visit santaanita.com or call (626) 574-RACE.

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Gershwin Scores Over Sloppy Main Track In Penn Mile

Getting a perfect set-up behind dueling front-runners for the first six furlongs, Godolphin homebred Gershwin – a half-brother to Grade 1 Dubai World Cup winner Mystic Guide – scored a two-length victory under Joe Bravo in Friday evening's $300,000 Penn Mile Stakes, a one-mile race originally scheduled on turf at Penn National race course in Grantville, Pa., but was transferred to a sloppy main track because of heavy rain.

The Penn Mile is designated as a Grade 2 race on turf by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association's American Graded Stakes Committee, but was automatically downgraded to Grade 3 because of the surface switch. The AGS Committee will review this year's running and decide whether to reinstate it to Grade 2.

The King Cheek finished second after dueling with Sibelius through fractions of :24.66, :49.13, and 1:13.75. It was 6 1/4 lengths farther back to Chess's Dream in third, with 9-5 favorite Annex fourth and Sibelius retreating to the back of the field of five 3-year-olds at the wire. Original and Outadore were scratched.

Gershwin, a Distorted Humor colt out of G1 winner and producer Music Note, by A.P. Indy, is trained by Michael Stidham, who also trains Mystic Guide (by Ghostzapper) for Godolphin. He ran the mile on a sloppy track in 1:39.24 and paid $6.80 to win.

The quality in Gershwin's female family goes well beyond Music Note, whose second dam is the Harbor View Farm filly It's In the Air, co-champion 2-year-old filly in 1978 and winner of four G1 races the following year.

The victory was the second in five lifetime starts – all in 2021 – for Gershwin, who left the maiden ranks sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs ver a muddy track in his second start on Feb. 6 at Fair Grounds. He finished a well-beaten third next out on a good track at Oaklawn on March 25, then lost by a neck on a sloppy track at Churchill going a one-turn mile. The Penn Mile was the first stakes attempt.for Gershwin, who trained up to the race at Fair Hill training center in Maryland.

Gershwin broke well from the rail post but Bravo allowed The King Cheek and Sibelius to gain the advantage in the early going. He kept Gershwin well off the rail throughout and swung even wider into the stretch to make his winning move.

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