Be Your Best wires Gamely field to win first Grade 1
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ARCADIA, Calif. – Be Your Best did not give six rivals a chance in Monday’s Grade 1 Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita.
Allowed to set her own pace, Be Your Best scooted clear in early stretch and had ample energy in reserve to win her first race at the highest level and her fourth stakes in her last five starts in the $301,000 Gamely Stakes.
Ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., Be Your Best ($6.20) ran 1 1/8 miles on turf in 1:46.26 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 95.
“When we got to be on the lead, I left her be comfortable – and let the others try to chase me,” Ortiz said. “On the backstretch, I took a little hold. She was on the bridle. She let me know she was ready to go. At the three-eighths pole, I started rolling.”
Be Your Best led by a length on the backstretch and by 4 1/2 lengths in the stretch. She won by 2 3/4 lengths over 8-1 Lady Claypoole. Be Your Best set early fractions of 22.99 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 46.15 for a half-mile.
Lady Claypoole, the winner of the Grade 3 Santa Ana Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf on March 15 in her stakes debut, closed from sixth to finish second.
“She ran her race,” trainer Richard Baltas said. “She got a Grade 1 second. I’m pretty happy with her, her effort, and the ride. There was no speed in the race.”
Liguria, winner of the Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes at a mile on turf at Santa Anita in March, closed from fifth to finish third at 9-1. Expensive Queen finished fourth, followed by Public Assembly, No Show Sammy Jo, and Khinjani.
No Show Sammy Jo was the 9-5 favorite. She broke through the gate before the start and was second to the turn before fading through the final furlong.
There were two notable scratches in Alpha Bella and Where’s My Ring. Alpha Bella finished fourth in Sunday’s Grade 2 Santa Margarita Stakes on dirt, while Where’s My Ring is entered in Saturday’s Grade 3 Shawnee Stakes at Churchill Downs.
Be Your Best’s win was the first half of a notable double for Ortiz and trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. In the race after the Gamely, Ortiz rode Skippylongstocking to a win for Joseph in the Grade 2 Hollywood Gold Cup.
Be Your Best and Skippylongstocking were the first two stakes winners at Santa Anita for the Florida-based Joseph. Ortiz, who won five Eclipse Awards as the nation’s outstanding jockey, has won 14 career stakes at Santa Anita.
Be Your Best, owned by Michael Ryan, has won six of 20 starts and earned $1,186,550. An Irish-bred mare by the Oasis Dream stallion Muhaarar, Be Your Best has raced in the United States throughout her career. She is a five-time stakes winner, including the P.G. Johnson Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at Saratoga in September 2022.
Last fall and winter, in consecutive starts, Be Your Best won the Grade 3 Long Island Stakes at Aqueduct in November, the Grade 3 Suwanee River Stakes at Gulfstream Park in December, and the Grade 2 Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational at Gulfstream Park in January.
The winning streak ended with a last-place finish of eight in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on a good turf course at Keeneland in April. Ortiz argued after the Gamely that Be Your Best should not be criticized too harshly for that defeat.
“I don’t think she liked the track,” Ortiz said. “The ground was too soft.”
Be Your Best raced on her preferred firm turf on Monday, recording a milestone win in an already accomplished career.
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