Thought Process looks to get back on track in Rodeo Drive

Thought Process lost her undefeated record this year with a respectable second-place finish in the Grade 2 John C. Mabee Stakes at Del Mar last month.

There is an ample opportunity for Thought Process to begin a new winning streak, and in a high-profile setting.

On Saturday at Santa Anita, Thought Process will be favored to win her sixth stakes in the Grade 2 Rodeo Drive Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/4 miles on turf.

The $200,000 Rodeo Drive Stakes drew a competitive field of 11, including seven other stakes winners. The winner receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Oct. 31 at Keeneland.

:: Get ready for Santa Anita racing with DRF PPs, Clocker Reports, Picks and more. Shop Now.

The Rodeo Drive is the longest start for Thought Process, who has won 7 of 11 starts for the partnership of Little Red Feather Racing, the family of the late Brereton Jones, and Madaket Stables. Thought Process is trained by Phil D’Amato.

In May, Thought Process produced a career-defining performance with a convincing win by 2 3/4 lengths in the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Santa Anita, her only win in three career starts at the highest level.

In the Mabee at 1 1/8 miles, Thought Process led briefly on the turn but was outfinished by Medoro. She lost by a length in her third start of the year.

“I think the other filly got the jump on us,” D’Amato said. “I don’t think anything less of my filly.”

Thought Process drew the inside post in the Rodeo Drive. She tends to run as a stalker and has led at times.

“At a mile and a quarter, it might be what she wants to do,” D’Amato said.

Several fillies and mares in the Rodeo Drive have experience at the distance.

Dona Clota won the Grade 3 Robert Dick Memorial Stakes at 1 3/8 miles at Delaware Park in June. Kentucky Gal, trained by D’Amato, won the Possibly Perfect Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Santa Anita in June, a month after Hey Jessie won the Santa Barbara Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on turf at Santa Anita.

Vronti, who has the outside post in the Rodeo Drive, won the CTT-TOC Stakes at 1 3/8 miles on turf at Del Mar in August.

Hey Jessie rallied from last of nine to finish third in the Grade 3 Ladies Marathon Stakes at 1 5/16 miles on Sept. 6 at Kentucky Downs, passing six rivals in the final furlong. She was fifth behind Kentucky Gal in the Possibly Perfect after racing in traffic in early stretch.

Trainer Sean McCarthy said earlier this week that he is debating whether to run Hey Jessie in the Rodeo Drive Stakes or the Grade 3 Dowager Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on turf on Oct. 18 at Keeneland.

“Right now, I’m thinking of staying in there,” he said Wednesday of the Rodeo Drive. “I think she likes the firm ground.”

May Day Ready, who starts in the longest race of her career in the Rodeo Drive, was a stakes winner at Kentucky Downs last month in a rare manner. She won a de facto match race in the One Dreamer Stakes at 1 1/16 miles after four others were scratched.

May Day Ready broke slowly and tracked Miwa into the lengthy stretch before winning by 4 1/2 lengths for her fourth career stakes win.

“We thought we’d be two in front and we were three behind,” trainer Richard Mandella said. “We think she’ll get a mile and a quarter.”

The Rodeo Drive is the last of 10 races and the fifth stakes on Saturday.

Chillingworth

In the second race, the 5-year-old mare Thermal starts from the inside post in the Grade 3 Chillingworth Stakes for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs on dirt.

Thermal, who is quick enough to lead, won the Memorial Day Sprint for fillies and mares by eight lengths at Lone Star Park in May and was second to the sprint star Sweet Azteca in the Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo Stakes at Del Mar in August.

In the $100,000 Chillingworth, Thermal’s main rival is Toaster, an undefeated filly trained by Bob Baffert who has won twice.

Speakeasy

The speedy filly Omaha Spirit, a two-time winner at Colonial Downs in the summer, is part of a field of seven 2-year-olds in the $100,000 Speakeasy Stakes at five furlongs on turf.

Trained by Wesley Ward, Omaha Spirit has led throughout both starts, the latest of which was the Rosie’s Stakes against males at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf Sept. 7.

“She’s super smart,” Ward said. “She breaks like a Quarter Horse and looks like one.”

Arctic Wolf, fourth in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Turf Sprint at 6 1/2 furlongs on Aug. 29, may pose a threat from slightly off the pace.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.