From Santa Anita Publicity
ARCADIA, CA (Jan. 31, 2024)—Fresh off the best year of her amazing 25-race career, Harris Farms’ classy 6-year-old homebred Closing Remarks is back at a preferred distance over a course she adores as she heads a field of seven older fillies and mares at one mile on turf in Saturday’s Grade III, $100,000 Megahertz Stakes at Santa Anita.
A gutty half length winner of the Grade II Goldikova at one mile on turf here two starts back on Nov. 5, Closing Remarks finished strongly while in close quarters to be sixth, beaten two lengths in the Grade I Matriarch at one mile over the Del Mar turf in her next start on Dec. 3.
A 6-year-old mare by Vronsky out of the Unusual Heat mare Orange Cove, Closing Remarks posted four wins and two thirds from 10 graded stakes starts last year, good for 2023 earnings of $601,000.
Trained throughout her career by Carla Gaines, Closing Remarks has five overall stakes victories and with a career race resume of 25-7-5-4, she is just $180.00 short of the $1 million dollar mark as her current earnings read $999,820.
She’ll be ridden for the fourth consecutive time by Juan Hernandez on Saturday.
Idle since running third in the Grade I Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Oct. 15, 2022, Phil D’Amato’s Irish-bred Bellabel lacks recency but gets the services of Flavien Prat for her return to action.
One for five in Ireland, Bellabel won her first two stateside starts with D’Amato—the ungraded Blue Norther and the Grade III San Clemente, both run at a flat mile on turf, on Jan. 2 and July 23, 2022. Subsequently second three races back in the Grade I Del Mar Oaks, she returns to action on the heels of a steady work tab at both Los Alamitos and at Santa Anita.
Bellabel is owned by Agave Racing Stable, the Benowitz Family Trust, CYBT, Michael Nentwig and Ray Pagano. With three wins and a second from five starts at one mile on turf, she’s 9-3-2-2 overall with earnings of $304,810.
Most recently fourth, beaten 2 ½ lengths going a mile and one eighth on turf in the Grade III Robert J. Frankel here on Dec. 30, trainer Paddy Gallagher’s 5-year-old Irish-bred mare Yerwanthere cuts back a furlong in distance which should be to her liking.
With a win and a second from three tries at the trip, Yerwanthere, who is owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, is 9-3-1-0 and will be ridden for the third time in a row by Umberto Rispoli.
- Mouffy—Kazushi Kimura—122
- Justique—Mike Smith—120
- Yerwanthere—Umberto Rispoli—120
- Bellabel—Flavien Prat—124
- Oakhurst—Antonio Fresu—120
- Nadette—Hector Berrios—122
- Closing Remarks—Juan Hernandez—124