Grand Slam Smile possible for Betty Grable Stakes

ARCADIA, Calif. - Grand Slam Smile, who cleared $1 million in career earnings with her 11th career stakes win in the California Distaff Handicap at Santa Anita on Oct. 11, will remain in training in 2027 and may start again this year.

Trainer Sean McCarthy said on Sunday that Grand Slam Smile will be considered for the $100,000 Betty Grable Stakes at seven furlongs for statebred fillies and mares at Del Mar on Nov. 8.

McCarthy said recent conversations with Larry and Marianne Williams, who bred and own Grand Slam Smile, and their racing manager, Dan Kiser, indicated that the mare will race as a 6-year-old next year.

“They want to keep on going if she’s doing well,” McCarthy said.

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An appearance in the Grable Stakes is not a certainty.

“She came out of the race in great shape,” McCarthy said of the California Distaff.

“I’ll nominate to the Betty Gable. I’m not tied into running there. We’ll let her dictate if we come back in the Betty Grable.

“She’s put in pretty strong races this year. We’ll play it by ear.”

Last year, Grand Slam Smile was second by a head in the California Distaff and won the Betty Grable Stakes four weeks later. If Grand Slam Smile does not start in the Betty Grable Stakes, she will be pointed to the Sunshine Million Filly and Mare Turf Sprint for statebred fillies and mares in January, a race she won earlier this year.

Grand Slam Smile has won 13 of 24 starts and earned $1,057,120. In her career, her biggest single payday occurred at Santa Anita in January 2024 when she won the $200,000 California Cup Oaks for statebred 3-year-old fillies, earning $110,000.

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