The Gamely Stakes (Grade 1)- $300.000 Purse
SA- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Turf
May 26, 2025

Monday’s running of the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes has drawn a field of six that will head to the gate in hopes of picking up the winner’s share of the $300.000 purse. If that winner is Techfluence High, she will become the third different two-time winner of the race. The prior horses to achieve that feat were Miz Liz for Dynark Stakes in 2010 and 2011, and then Proud Eights for Estero Farms then Mb Stables in 2021 and 2022. Since moving to SA in 2014, the purse has ranged between $300.000 and $500.000, so it is similar to the Shoemaker Mile in that respect. Let’s take a look at our field:

1- Bronze Mooka Party (Mo Mentum Farm, ridden by W T Buick)- Picked up by the trainer for $60.000 after a steady career running in allowances at mid or high-level tracks. While she has not won since December 2023, Bronze Mooka Party has regularly hit the board, and that was enough for Mo Mentum Farm to push her into the graded level, and just three weeks ago, she was second on soft turf in the $750.000 Grade 2 CD Distaff Turf Mile. She does seem to like it wet but doesn’t need it to be that way.

2- Ginger Lucy (The Sidley Stud, ridden by M Franco)- A winner of two out of her last three races, taking the $100.000 Stall Memorial Stakes in February at FG and then the Grade 3 Orchid in March at GP. Last month, she was third at KEE for the Grade 3 Bewitch. Since August, she has finished in the top four in all of her ten starts, and registered a top three in nine of them, a stretch that corresponded with her getting Bute for the first time. Always represents herself, and would probably automatically go into the second post, as this is her fourth straight race starting from post #2.

3- Techfluence High (The Sidley Stud, ridden by P Lopez)- All eyes will be on Techfluence High as she looks to be the third horse to win this race on two occasions. After that win, she was mediocre, at best, and did not run well in the BC Fillies and Mares Turf. It would not be until March where she made her way back here to SA and picked up her next win, coming in the Grade 3 Santa Ana Stakes. It broke an eight-race winning streak, but perhaps she is getting hot again as she made it back-to-back wins in the Grade 3 Modesty Stakes three weeks ago at CD.

4- Superface Party (Mb Stables, ridden by J R Velazquez)- Ran against Techfluence High at CD in the Modesty Stakes and was the one who set the pace there before being outkicked late and finishing third. That’s a script that could very easily be flipped here, and we won’t be worrying about soft turf in the Gamely. Last year saw a win in the $750.000 Grade 1 QE II Challenge Cup and she has hit the board in eight of nine starts.

5- Painville (Mo Mentum Farm, ridden by F Geroux)- One of the greats of this division, as evidenced by being the two-time reigning BC Fillies and Mares Turf winner. She’s still looking for her first win of 2025, but with a little more luck at the wire, we could also be talking about her being 3-for-3 this year. Second in the Pegasus F & M Turf in January, then was nipped at the wire by Lady Hilltopper in the Grade 2 Hillsborough Stakes. Against a loaded field last time out, she was a close fourth in the Grade 1 Wiley. It’s unlikely that she will be winless for long this year and doesn’t see as loaded of a field this time out. Hard to bet against her.

6- Lonestar Annie (Alydar Stables, ridden by M E Smith)- As Lonestar Annie loads into the starting gate, it’s a good thing that she does not know any better that she’s right next to a mare like Painville. This is Lonestar Annie’s graded debut, but it’s well-earned with a solid career in overnights in hitting the board. A couple of ungraded stakes went well, too. Of her 21 career starts, only one has been on the grass, so Alydar is giving her quite the test. Worked well on Wednesday here, but I need to see her in a race like this first before I can pick her against this company.

Prediction: 5-3-4-1

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES