D'Amato confident One Magic Philly is up to the task in Great Lady M.

One Magic Philly will need a career-best race to record an upset win in Saturday’s Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes for female sprinters at Los Alamitos, a field led by national division leader Kopion.

She can do just that, trainer Phil D’Amato said.

“She’s got the talent,” he said. “She has to put it all together.”

Owned and bred by John Gallegos, One Magic Philly has started once this year, finishing third as the even-money favorite in the $125,000 Skipat Stakes for fillies and mares at six furlongs on May 17 at Pimlico in her first start since late December.

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One Magic Philly raced without blinkers for the first time in the Skipat and will not be fitted with the equipment Saturday.

“She was on the bit all the time and now she’s more relaxed and better,” D’Amato said of the equipment change.

“She’s had that first start of the year and she got the rust off.”

Last Saturday at Santa Anita, One Magic Philly worked five furlongs in 59.60 seconds. On June 21, she worked six furlongs from the gate in 1:11.40.

“She’s trained exceptionally well,” D’Amato said. “I’ve seen fast works, and she’s done it with such ease.”

One Magic Philly has won 3 of 7 starts, including the Grade 3 Chillingworth Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita last October. In that race, her stakes debut, One Magic Philly beat a field that included 1-10 Sweet Azteca, who could only finish fourth in what turned out to be her final start of the year.

Sweet Azteca won the 2024 Great Lady M. Stakes when trained by Michael McCarthy. She has since been transferred by owner and breeder Pamela Ziebarth to Richard Baltas.

Sweet Azteca missed a start in the Desert Stormer Stakes at Santa Anita after sustaining a cut on a leg, Baltas said at the time. Sweet Azteca resumed training days later. She worked five furlongs in 59.20 on Saturday at Santa Anita.

The $200,000 Great Lady M. Stakes is the main race on the final weekend of the Los Alamitos summer meeting, which ends Sunday. The Del Mar summer meeting begins July 18.

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