Kookie Gal possible for open company next
CYPRESS, Calif. - Kookie Gal is likely to start against open company at Santa Anita in early 2019 after winning Saturday’s $100,000 Soviet Problem Stakes for 2-year-old California-bred fillies at Los Alamitos.
Kookie Gal won the one-mile Soviet Problem Stakes by four lengths, closing from fourth in a field of six. Ridden by Flavien Prat, Kookie Gal drifted to the inside when she reached the front, but was clear at the time.
“She is still a little green,” trainer Peter Miller reflected on Sunday. “She ran well. Hopefully, we can build on that.”
Miller said he is considering an allowance race for Kookie Gal, who raced without blinkers for the first time Saturday in her third start.
Kookie Gal is the first stakes winner for Boisterous, who is by Distorted Humor and stands at Tommy Town Thoroughbreds in Santa Ynez, Calif. Kookie Gal is owned by Gary Barber and Wachtel Stable, who bred the filly.
Kookie Gal has won 2 of 3 starts and earned $89,000. She won her debut in a maiden special weight race for California-breds at Santa Anita on Oct. 18 and was fifth in her stakes debut in the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes at a mile on turf at Del Mar on Nov. 24.
Jockey Garcia suspended
Jockey Matt Garcia has been suspended seven calendar days – from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1 – after weighing in after two races in September at a weight lower than his assignment, according to a ruling published by Los Alamitos stewards on Sunday.
Steward Scott Chaney said Garcia was found in fault after one race each day on Sept. 14 and 15 during the Los Angeles County Fair meeting at Los Alamitos. Garcia testified that his girth channel and chamois were different when he weighed in after the race than the ones used to check his weight in advance of the race, Chaney said.
Garcia, 48, has won five races from 95 mounts this year, with all the wins at Santa Anita. Through Sunday, Garcia had not ridden since Oct. 7 at Santa Anita.
