Counterbalance Wins Stakes Debut For McCarthy And Amermans In Sunday’s China Doll Stakes For 3-Year-Old Fillies Going One Mile On Turf

COUNTERBALANCE WINS STAKES DEBUT FOR MCCARTHY AND AMERMANS IN SUNDAY’S CHINA DOLL STAKES FOR 3-YEAR-OLD FILLIES GOING ONE MILE ON TURF

ARCADIA, CA (March 7, 2026)— Counterbalance is a “feisty” 3-year-old filly on the ascent for trainer Michael McCarthy and owners-breeders Jerry and John Amerman. Making her stakes debut in Sunday’s $100,000 China Doll Stakes, Counterbalance ran past favorite Himika in the stretch of the one-mile turf race for sophomore fillies and won comfortably by two lengths.

Ridden by Kazushi Kimura, Counterbalance (5-2) tracked pacesetter Hypergamy (6-1) through fractions of 23.33, 46.39 and 1:09.55. Entering the stretch, Himika—the even-money favorite ridden by Juan Hernandez—passed Counterbalance by almost a full length and took aim at Hypergamy on the lead. But Counterbalance wasn’t done. She battled back between horses and pulled clear late for the breakthrough victory.

“Himika, I think might be more of a sprinter, six or seven furlongs. So when she went past me on the outside, my horse had the stamina to keep going,” Kimura said. “This was a small field but it was a really great race for her.”

Hypergamy, ridden by Emisael Jaramillo for trainer Doug O’Neill, bested Himika by three-quarters of a length for second.

Counterbalance won in a time of 1:33.74. Kimura has ridden the daughter of Caravaggio in all five of her starts dating to last July when she debuted on dirt at Del Mar. She entered the China Doll off a maiden win going 6 ? furlongs on turf on Jan. 13 at Santa Anita.

“She’s really a high-temperature horse. Sometimes it’s difficult to train her,” Kimura said. “Last week we gave her a solo work, nice and easy on the bridle. It was really a big help today. She was more off the bridle down the backside. The first time she tried a one-mile race (in September), she had pressure on her inside and outside. She never got comfortable. Today, obviously it was a small field, but she was nice and relaxed and I didn’t have to fight her. That really helped her finish up strong.”

Counterbalance was produced by Out of Balance, a daughter of Grade I winner Balance.

“She’s feisty… She trained very well over the summer as a 2-year-old and we were excited to get her started,” McCarthy said. “She had worked just well enough on the dirt to go ahead and warrant a start on there. We found out her first time out she had a little immaturity, very green.”

In her maiden win in January, Counterbalance pressed the pace and kicked clear to win by 1 1/4 lengths as the 2-1 favorite.

“As the fall progressed, she seemed to kind of mature and trained better. She had more self-confidence. The other day sprinting here I thought it was a good effort. She was a little wound up in the paddock, so we really worked on that the past couple of weeks, schooling and bringing her back. I think Kazushi did a great job of just getting her settled in the post parade and we found ourselves in a great spot.”

With no show wagering, Counterbalance paid $7.20 and $3.60. Hypergamy paid $5.40.

CHINA DOLL STAKES QUOTES

JOCKEY QUOTES

KAZUSHI KIMURA, COUNTERBALANCE, WINNER: “(Favorite) Himika, I think might be more of a sprinter, six or seven furlongs. So when she went past me on the outside, my horse had the stamina to keep going. This was a small field but it was a really great race for her. She’s really a high-temperature horse. Sometimes it’s difficult to train her. Last week we gave her a solo work, nice and easy on the bridle. It was really a big help today. She was more off the bridle down the backside. The first time she tried a one-mile race, she had pressure on her inside and outside. She never got comfortable. Today, obviously it was a small field, but she was nice and relaxed and I didn’t have to fight her. That really helped her finish up strong.”

TRAINER QUOTES

MICHAEL MCCARTHY, COUNTERBALANCE, WINNER: “She’s feisty… She trained very well over the summer as a 2-year-old we were excited to get her started. She had worked just well enough on the dirt to go ahead and warrant a start on there. We found out her first time out she had a little immaturity, very green. Second start we stretched her out to a mile on the grass which might have been too much too soon for her, but as the fall progressed, she seemed to kind of mature and trained better. She had more self-confidence. The other day sprinting here I thought it was a good effort. She was a little wound up in the paddock, so we really worked on that the past couple of weeks, schooling and bringing her back. I think Kazushi did a great job of just getting her settled in the post parade and we found ourselves in a great spot.”

OWNER QUOTES

JOHN AMERMAN, COUNTERBALANCE, WINNER: “We love (sire) Caravaggio and she showed it this afternoon. It was a beautiful ride by Kaz. He is terrific and Michael is the greatest. Out of Balance was a great horse for us. She has proven to be a better mare. “Michael is so great to deal with we just leave it in his hands. We talk about and we go forward and hopefully we win.”

NOTES: The winning owner is Amerman Racing, LLC, Counterbalance was bred by Mrs. Jerry Amerman.