Gallorette was an Amazon queen who often beat males in a 72-race career that lasted from 1944 to 1948. The Maryland-bred was a big, rangy girl who conquered the boys in the Carter Stakes, Whitney Stakes, and Metropolitan Handicap on her way to the Hall of Fame.
Pimlico named a race for her in 1952, and on Saturday, the $150,000 Gallorette Stakes (G3) for fillies and mares will be run for the 75th time, but for the first time at Laurel Park.
The 1 1/16-mile turf event has been lucrative for trainers Chad Brown, who has won it six times, including three of the last four renewals, and Graham Motion (three victories). Between them, they train half of the eight-horse field, with Brown running morning-line favorites Child of the Moon (5-2) and Accent (3-1) while Motion sends out Warming (12-1) and Ribaltagaia (6-1).
Dedicated handicappers know that the undercards of Triple Crown races often produce double-digit winners. The Gallorette did that last year on Preakness Stakes (G1) day, when 8-1 shot Charlene's Dream led all the way, leaving two Motion horses in last and next to last. Maybe fortune will favor Motion this year, because despite her 12-1 odds and three-race losing streak, Warming looks like a contender in a wide-open race.
Those defeats came on synthetic tracks and dirt, which will darken her form but shouldn't scare you off. She's the only member of the field with a graded stakes win on the grass, which she accomplished last October in the Autumn Miss (G3) at Santa Anita. She has quick closing fractions, and she really doesn't have much to beat in here. Another plus is the presence of Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez, who collaborated with Motion for Animal Kingdom's 2011 Kentucky Derby (G1) upset.
No one in the Gallorette is coming off a win, and some of Warming's rivals have extended losing streaks. Ribaltagaia has dropped eight in a row. Last year's Gallorette runner-up, Austere (7-2), is on a 0-for-7 slide, Child of the Moon lost her last four, and Mahra (15-1) is 1-for-6 on grass.
“I really freshened Warming up for this spot,” Motion said. “She's in good form, so hopefully freshening her up has done her some good.”
I'll be playing Warming to win and place and boxing her in exactas with New York-bred Awesome Czech (5-1) and Accent. Awesome Czech is 5-for-8 at 1 1/16 miles, and her six turf wins lead the field. The 4-year-old Accent is 3-for-4 with upside in her graded-stakes debut.
Post time for the race, the 11th of the 14-race Preakness card, is 4:53 p.m. ET.
Ed McNamara is an award-winning racing writer who has covered the sport since 1981 for The Bergen (N.J.) Record, Newsday, ESPN, Thorocap, and USRacing. He is the author of Cajun Racing: From the Bush Tracks to the Triple Crown and Racing Around the World, and a contributor to The Most Glorious Crown and The Racetracks of America. He has also written for racing publications in France and Italy.
