D'Amato eyeing Grade 1s for Thought Process

ARCADIA, Calif. – Thought Process, winner of the Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes on turf last Saturday at Santa Anita, is scheduled to have a 2026 season focused on making the 4-year-old filly a Grade 1 winner. The question of how many races will be tried at that level will be determined soon.

Trainer Phil D’Amato said Sunday that the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes, a $300,000 race for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles on turf on May 25 at Santa Anita, is the main goal of the spring.

The Grade 1 Jenny Wiley Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on turf on April 11 at Keeneland, worth $650,000, is an option in the short-term. D’Amato said Thought Process could remain in California for two Grade 3 races worth $100,000 – the Wilshire Stakes on March 28 or Royal Heroine Stakes on April 25 – as a prep for the Gamely.

Turf races may not be the only focus this year. Thought Process could run in the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on dirt on Aug. 1 at Del Mar, D’Amato said.

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“She’s been galloping on the dirt, which she loves to do,” D’Amato said. “We may be trying that in the Clement Hirsch. We may try some big things.”

Owned by the partnership of Madaket Stables, Little Red Feather Racing, and the family of the late Brereton Jones, Thought Process has won 6 of 9 starts and earned $500,200.

Thought Process has won 6 of 8 starts on turf, with the losses in Grade 1 races – a ninth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar in November 2024 and a third by 1 1/4 lengths as the 11-10 favorite in the Del Mar Oaks last August.

The Buena Vista Stakes was the first start for Thought Process since the Del Mar Oaks.

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