Our Moonlight put up for the win in the Grade III Chillingworth Stakes after Paradise City disqualified for foul on backstretch

OUR MOONLIGHT PUT UP FOR THE WIN IN THE GRADE III CHILLINGWORTH STAKES AFTER PARADISE CITY DISQUALIFIED FOR FOUL ON BACKSTRETCH

After a jockey’s objection, stewards ruled in a majority decision that Paradise City came over and impeded Our Moonlight near the five-eighths pole soon after the start and cost the runner-up a better placing. Our Moonlight crossed the finish line a neck back of Paradise City.

ARCADIA, CA (Oct. 3, 2026)—Our Moonlight was put for the win after crossing the wire a close-up second behind eastern invader Paradise City in Saturday’s Grade III, $100,000 Chillingworth Stakes for fillies and mares going 6 ½ furlongs at Santa Anita Park.

Jockey Tiago Pereira on Our Moonlight (7-1) filed an objection soon after the finish claiming Paradise City, who had replacement rider Kazushi Kimura aboard, came over and impeded his mount near the five-eighths pole shortly after the start. Our Moonlight ultimately rallied in the stretch and finished a neck back of Paradise City at the finish.

In a majority decision, stewards agreed the incident cost Our Moonlight a better placing and disqualified Paradise City to second. Saffie Joseph-trained Paradise City was being ridden by Kimura in place of scheduled rider Micah Husbands, who did not make the trip west for Saturday’s card at Santa Anita.

Pereira explained his objection.

“I saw Kimura. He broke better and tried to go inside and I had to stop my filly. She got a little scared, but at the three-eighths, I got her out and pushed her to get into the clear and she finished strong,” Pereira said.

Kimura had a different view of the situation.

"He tried to force and jump in there,” Kimura said. ”I was already clear. I had position. I was surprised I got the DQ. I just followed instruction, but I thought I was clear."

Trained by Dean Pederson, Our Moonlight, picked up her first stakes win and improved her record to 12: 3-4-3 with more than $230,000 in earnings. The 4-year-old daughter of Tapit is owned by Larry Jett and Ann Jett.

“I thank Tiago. He's my man,” Pederson said. “He and I have had a great relationship for 6-7 years now. I trust him. I train them and he rides them and it's worked out good for us.

Pederson also shared his thoughts on the disqualification.

“It was hard to tell. She was inside. Just watching it live, you couldn't tell,” Pederson said. “At first, it was like 50-50. Somebody's on the fence and whoever made the deciding vote, I want to thank them. Sometimes you're on the right end and sometimes you're on the wrong end. You never like to win like that. I thought our filly ran very good whether she got moved up or not. It's frosting on the cake, I guess."

The final time was 1:16.36. Thermal, the 3-5 favorite ridden by Joel Rosario, set fractions of 21.97, 44.2 and 1:09.62 before being passed late by both Paradise City and then Our Moonlight.

“She was right in front, and it looked like she got a little tired at the end, but she tried very hard,” Rosario said. “She was running nicely. The last part of the race the other horse was kind of coming from behind a little bit stronger.”

Our Moonlight paid $17.40, $4.60 and $2.60. Paradise City returned $4.20 and $2.60. Thermal, trained by John Sadler, paid $2.10.

GRADE III, CHILLINGWORTH STAKES QUOTES

JOCKEY QUOTES

TIAGO PEREIRA, OUR MOONLIGHT, FIRST: “I saw Kimura. He broke better and tried to go inside and I had to stop my filly. She got a little scared, but at the three-eighths, I got her out and pushed her to get into the clear and she finished strong.”

KAZUSHI KIMURA, PARADISE CITY, SECOND: "He tried to force and jump in there. I was already clear. I had position. I was surprised I got the DQ. I just followed instruction, but I thought I was clear."

JOEL ROSARIO, THERMAL, THIRD: “She was right in front, and it looked like she got a little tired at the end, but she tried very hard. She was running nicely. The last part of the race the other horse was kind of coming from behind a little bit stronger.”

TRAINER QUOTES

DEAN PEDERSON, OUR MOONLIGHT, WINNER: “I thank Tiago. He's my man. He and I have had a great relationship for 6-7 years now. I trust him. I train them and he rides them and it's worked out good for us. We trust each other. I'm just as happy for him as I am myself. It's going to help this filly's residual value quite a bit, being a graded race. The stakes win is huge for us, especially a graded stakes. Very happy for Mr. (Larry) Jett. He's an old man that enjoys watching his horses run and that's why we're still here in California. Sometimes things shine on you."

(On the inquiry) "It was hard to tell. She was inside. Just watching it live, you couldn't tell. At first, it was like 50-50. Somebody's on the fence and whoever made the deciding vote, I want to thank them. Sometimes you're on the right end and sometimes you're on the wrong end. You never like to win like that. I thought our filly ran very good whether she got moved up or not. It's frosting on the cake, I guess."

NOTES: The winning owners are Larry and Ann Jett.