Hey Jessie ends stakes victory drought with Santa Barbara

ARCADIA, Calif. - Hey Jessie won her first stakes in nearly 17 months in Sunday’s $100,000 Santa Barbara Stakes for fillies and mares on turf at Santa Anita, repelling a bid from an unexpected rival through the stretch.

Ridden by Emisael Jaramillo, who swept the two stakes at Santa Anita on the weekend, Hey Jessie ($7) won by three-quarters of a length over 13-1 Cailin Dana, who closed from last to pose a threat.

Hey Jessie ran 1 1/2 miles on turf in 2:29 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 81.

Ulysses Rose, winless in her first two starts, finished third at 7-2, followed by 4-5 Resolve and French Moonlight in the field of five.

Hey Jessie was third and then second in the first mile, tracking early leader French Moonlight and then Resolve. Jaramillo urged Hey Jessie closer to backstretch leader Resolve, a decision that winning trainer Sean McCarthy praised in the winner’s circle.

“The move of the race was at the five and a half,” McCarthy said. “He eased her up there.”

Resolve and Hey Jessie were separated by a head with a quarter-mile remaining, an expected matchup. Resolve was unable to sustain the threat and faded from contention. Cailin Dana rallied wide to race alongside Hey Jessie in early stretch.

Hey Jessie led by a head with a furlong remaining, and may have briefly lost the lead to Cailin Dana, before pulling away in the final strides.

“It was a dogfight from the quarter-pole,” McCarthy said. “I didn’t know if she could do it and she got the job done.”

Hey Jessie, a 4-year-old California-bred filly by Grazen, races for Steve Young’s Sayjay Racing. A winner of 4 of 12 starts, Hey Jessie won the Soviet Problem Stakes for 2-year-old California-bred fillies at a mile on dirt at Los Alamitos in December 2024.

The Santa Barbara Stakes was her fourth consecutive appearance in a turf stakes since last November, a span that includes a second in the $175,000 Unusual Heat Turf Classic at 1 1/8 miles on turf against males in January. Hey Jessie was sixth of 10 in the Grade 3 Santa Ana Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Santa Anita on March 15 in her start prior to the Santa Barbara.

Hey Jessie has earned $248,288. She is the 200th winner for the 63-year-old McCarthy, who began training in 1991. Of the 200 wins, 15 have been in stakes.

“I’m happy it happened at Santa Anita,” McCarthy said in the winner’s circle.

McCarthy won his 201st race when 9-2 Clever Clover won a $12,500 claimer for sprinters in Sunday’s sixth race.

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