American Gal Impresses in Victory Ride

After favored runs in two grade 1 races on her home soil in Southern California resulted in placings, Kaleem Shah's homebred American Gal broke through for her first graded win on the opposite coast July 9 with a determined victory in the $150,000 Victory Ride Stakes (G3) at Belmont Park.

In her 3-year-old debut and her first start for trainer Simon Callaghan, the Concord Point filly overcame a less-than-ideal trip to win the 6 1/2-furlong sprint by 4 3/4 lengths.

Under jockey Flavien Prat, American Gal stumbled and was bumped by Noble Freud at the start but still found her way to the front of the field. She was far from comfortable, however, in between horses as a part of a four-way contest for the lead.

She maintained a head advantage through a quarter-mile in :22.48 and a half in :45.84, and pulled clear in the stretch. With a furlong to go, she held a two-length advantage and extended it to hit the wire in 1:17.38. Grade 3 winner Vertical Oak finished second, a neck ahead of Noble Freud.

"Simon did a great job and she was ready to run today," Prat said. "She stumbled a bit from the gate, then after that when she was on the lead around the turn. She was ready."

"It was a really big performance today," Callaghan said. "The fact that she stumbled, ran those fractions, took pressure on both sides, and drew off—that's the sign of a really good filly."

Following two sprint wins to start her career for trainer Bob Baffert, American Gal went off as the 4-1 favorite in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), where she finished third despite a wide trip throughout. She closed the year with a second-place finish behind eventual Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Abel Tasman in the Starlet Stakes (G1) as the 4-5 favorite.

Abel Tasman, then trained by Callaghan, has since been moved to Baffert, while American Gal, then trained by Baffert, has since been moved to Callaghan.

Callaghan said the plan for now is to keep American Gal sprinting, with an eye on the Aug. 5 Test Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course.

"I think we're going to keep her sprinting for the time being," Callaghan said. "The immediate goal would be the Test. We're going to bring her back home and we'll see how she's training."

Bred in Kentucky, out of the Ghostzapper   mare American Story, American Gal now has three wins from five starts with $407,700 in earnings.

"She had worked brilliantly coming into this race, so we expected a big effort," Shah said. "I would have been surprised if she had lost. I'm so pleased with the race and hopefully we go on to bigger and better things."