It’s been a lean start to 2025 for trainer Phil D’Amato, who has one of the most high-profile stables on the West Coast. Through Thursday, D’Amato has yet to win a stakes this year. During a comparable time last year, he had nine such wins. Last year, D’Amato finished with 36 stakes wins, including 33 in California to lead the state’s trainers. Getting close to that figure will be difficult in the next eight months, but D’Amato insists the stable is in position to win major stakes. The stable’s game plan has been structured with an emphasis on the second half of the year, notably the Breeders’ Cup races at Del Mar on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. :: Playing Santa Anita? Get the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports available now. “It’s all about patience,” D’Amato said on Thursday after training finished at Santa Anita. “It’s about doing right by the horse. “I turned a lot more horses out at the end of last year and the beginning of this year to have fresh horses in the second half of this year. I thought I had that quality of horses. “We gambled that way with the barn. We have horses on the cusp of coming back. I’m optimistic about having a big second of the year.” This weekend at Santa Anita, D’Amato has five runners in the two turf stakes at Santa Anita, both Grade 3 races worth $100,000 – Eternal Reign, Public Assembly, Sun of Hill, and Uncorked in Saturday’s Royal Heroine Stakes for fillies and mares, and Jungle Peace in Sunday’s Senorita Stakes for 3-year-old fillies. Uncorked won the 2024 Royal Heroine but is winless in her last six starts, including second-place finishes in two graded stakes. Uncorked was fifth of seven in the Grade 3 Wilshire Stakes at a mile on turf on March 29, finishing fourth lengths behind Tirupati, who is part of the Royal Heroine field. Uncorked was at the back of the Wilshire field for the first half-mile and is expected to be closer to the front on Saturday. “She’s training very well, as good as she ever as,” D’Amato said. “I expected more in her previous start. I think I gave her too much ground to make up. “Her best races are when she’s up close stalking. We’ll do what we did last year and put her in a more stalking position than a deep closing position and see if that will make a difference. “After watching and analyzing her previous races, I think that might be the ticket.” Mike Smith will ride Uncorked for the first time on Saturday, the Australian-bred mare’s 24th start. “I just thought Mike would fit Uncorked really well with how good Mike is on or near the lead,” D’Amato said. Antonio Fresu, Uncorked’s previous jockey, will be aboard Public Assembly, who D’Amato considers to be a danger in her stakes debut. Public Assembly won her California debut in an allowance race at 1 1/4 miles on turf on March 30. The Royal Heroine will be her sixth start. “She would appreciate more pace to run at,” D’Amato said. “She’s come back with a nice final breeze. She strikes me as a filly on the improve.” Through the next few months, D’Amato will have several prominent runners return to action, many in advance of the Del Mar summer meeting that begins on July 18. Despite the lack of stakes wins this year, D’Amato had a good start to the Santa Anita spring season, winning with 4 of 12 runners last Friday through Sunday, the opening weekend of the meeting. “They all ran well,” he said. “I had a couple of seconds and I think we’re back on the right track.” Among prominent runners from 2024, there are high hopes this year for the 3-year-old filly Thought Process and the 4-year-old filly Iscreamuscream. Thought Process won two stakes for 2-year-old fillies last year and was ninth in the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf last November. “I think she could really be a superstar this year at 3,” D’Amato. :: Santa Anita Clocker Reports are available every race day. Access now. A long-range goal for Thought Process is the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks on Aug. 16. Iscreamuscream won the 2024 Del Mar Oaks and has not raced since she finished fourth as the 3-2 favorite in the Grade 2 Rodeo Drive Stakes against older fillies and mares at Santa Anita last October. She returned to D’Amato’s stable earlier this month. Iron Man Cal, second by a neck at 29-1 in the BC Juvenile Turf, worked a quick five furlongs in 58.40 seconds at Santa Anita last Saturday and is “getting close to a race,” D’Amato said. Motorious, second by a neck at 12-1 in the BC Turf Sprint and the winner of the Grade 2 Joe Hernandez Stakes on the hillside turf course in December, resumed workouts earlier this month and may start before the Santa Anita season ends on June 15. Stronghold, winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby last April, worked three furlongs on Monday, his first workout since a 10th-place finish in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park in January. He is a few months away from a start. While the 5-year-old mare Hang the Moon, a two-time graded stakes winner last year is close to her first workout of the year, the 4-year-old filly One Magic Philly is nearing her first start of the year. D’Amato said the Grade 2 Chicago Stakes, a $300,000 race for fillies and mares at seven furlongs at Churchill Downs on June 21, is a long-range goal for One Magic Philly, who was sixth in the BC Filly and Mare Sprint last November. Vodka With a Twist, third in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks at 1 1/16 miles on April 5, may return in the Grade 3 Miss Preakness Stakes, a $150,000 race for 3-year-old fillies at six furlongs at Pimlico on May 16. Then there are a group of European imports, many of which have yet to start in the United States. D’Amato nominates the Irish-bred colt The Padre as one to follow. The Padre won his debut in a maiden race in a 33-1 upset at 1 5/16 miles on the all-weather track at Dundalk, Ireland, on Jan. 29. The Padre has had two half-mile workouts at Santa Anita this month. The Grade 2 Del Mar Derby on Aug. 31 is a consideration for The Padre. Last summer, D’Amato and Bob Baffert each won eight stakes at Del Mar, leading all trainers. This summer, D’Amato is optimistic he can have an equally successful season, with a stable that has been largely silent so far this year. “I’ve got a nice group of high-caliber horses that are coming back,” he said. “I have a lot of Euros that haven’t been seen.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.