D'Amato believes Thought Process is on top of her game for Mabee

An appearance by the 4-year-old filly Thought Process is typically worth the wait.

Thought Process is undefeated in two starts this year and will be favored to win her sixth stakes in her 11th career start in Monday’s Grade 2 John C. Mabee Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Del Mar.

This year, Thought Process was intended to have a more active campaign. After a win in the Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes at a mile on turf at Santa Anita in February, Thought Process did not race again until the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Santa Anita on May 25.

Thought Process was considered for the Grade 3 Royal Heroine Stakes at Santa Anita in April but was held out of the race in favor of the Gamely, which she won by 2 3/4 lengths as the 7-5 favorite. This summer, Thought Process missed the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 8 because of a foot issue that led to a three-week gap between workouts.

Thought Process resumed workouts on Aug. 2. She had a faultless August, trainer Phil D’Amato said.

“She’s training on her game,” he said. “We had a little foot issue very early on at the meet. I thought I could make the last race, but I wanted her to be 100 percent, so we skipped it.”

:: Play to Win at Del Mar! Get DRF Past Performances, Expert Picks and Clocker Reports

D’Amato said he was particularly encouraged by a five-furlong turf workout by Thought Process in 1:00.80 on Aug. 30. Thought Process started several lengths behind a group of horses and caught them before reaching the finish.

“Her last couple of breezes have been jaw-droppers,” D’Amato said. “She inhaled the group in midstretch and was drawing away with her ears up. I don’t think I’ll have an excuse. Hopefully she performs in the afternoon as she has been in the mornings.”

The Mabee is the top race on Monday’s closing day of the Del Mar summer meeting. Los Alamitos starts a two-week September meeting on Friday.

Thought Process, who races for the Little Red Feather partnership, the family of the late Brereton Jones, and Madaket Stables, is the only 2026 graded stakes winner in a field of 10 in the $250,000 Mabee, the richest race for fillies and mares on turf at the Del Mar summer meeting.

There are four other current year stakes winners in the field: Baltic Fire, who won the restricted Osunitas Stakes at Del Mar on July 25; Medoro, who is winless in four starts since the Marie Krantz Memorial Stakes at Fair Grounds in January; Fibonaccis Ride, the 17-1 winner of the Solana Beach Stakes for statebred fillies and mares at Del Mar on Aug. 15; and Vincey Girl, who won the Powder Break Stakes at Gulfstream Park in July.

Vincey Girl, trained by Jose D’Angelo, was fifth by two lengths in the Yellow Ribbon Stakes. She was supplemented to the Mabee for $2,500 on Thursday.

Medoro, trained by Peter Eurton, was second in the 2025 Mabee. In April, Medoro was third by three-quarters of a length in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on turf at Keeneland.

The Mabee is Medoro’s first start in California since a sixth-place finish in the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes at Del Mar last November. She was third by 1 1/4 lengths as the even-money favorite on a good turf course in the $250,000 Sunkissed Stakes at a mile at Ellis Park on Aug. 2.

Eurton noted that Medoro was not as eager as normal in the first half of the Sunkissed Stakes.

“It was a slow pace and she wasn’t pulling on the bridle like she does,” he said. “I’m hoping she had a difficult time with the going.”

In the Mabee, Medoro should get firm turf that she prefers. All six of her career wins have been on firm turf.

“She ran so well in it last year,” Eurton said of the 2025 Mabee. “I wanted to get some firm turf.”

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.