D’AMATO’S ONE MAGIC PHILLY WINS GIII, $100,000 CHILLINGWORTH STAKES FOR FILLIES AND MARES GOING 6 1/2 FURLONGS SATURDAY AT SANTA ANITA

Grade I winner Sweet Azteca (1-9) finishes last

ARCADIA, CA (Oct. 5, 2024)—Making her stakes debut for trainer Phil D’Amato, 3-year-old One Magic Philly put away older Grade I winner Sweet Azteca in the stretch and held on to win Saturday’s GIII, $100,000 Chillingworth Stakes for fillies and mares sprinting 6 ½ furlongs at Santa Anita.

Sent off the 7-2 second choice under Antonio Fresu, One Magic Philly pressed pacesetting Sweet Azteca, drew on to even terms on the turn and then put away her main rival near the quarter pole to score by 2 3/4 lengths.

Irish Wahine, the longest shot on the board at 25-1, rallied to be second under Kyle Frey. Last year’s Chillingworth winner, Kirstenbosch (14-1), checked in third with Sweet Azteca and jockey Juan Hernandez pulling up the rear.

By Good Magic, One Magic Philly is a homebred for John Gallegos. She broke her maiden in her second start going 6 ½ furlongs Aug. 3 at Del Mar then came back to air by seven lengths in a first-level allowance going 6 ½ furlongs at Del Mar Sept. 2. Her allowance win earned a lofty 98 Beyer Speed Figure.

“She’s really improving race by race,” Fresu said. “She showed a lot of talent in the last race at Del Mar when she won so easily. Today was a step forward. It was a really tough race against Sweet Azteca, but we prepared a lot before. Even though today was a challenge, she ended up on top again.”

With no show wagering, and Sweet Azteca finishing last, the place payouts ballooned. One Magic Philly paid $9.60 and $13.00. Irish Wahine, trained by Librado Barocio, paid a whopping $74 to place. Sweet Azteca received $211,579 in a total place pool of $235,284.

One Magic Philly won in a time 1:16.14 following fractions of 21.76, 44.10 and 1:09.38.

“We knew the horse to beat was on our inside (Sweet Azteca), and we had to take it to her if we broke well,” D’Amato said. “I knew if we could stick with Sweet Azteca for the first part of the race, we would have a chance. And it just worked out."