Santa Anita Stable Notes Monday, June 15, 2026

STABLE NOTES BY VICTOR RYAN

MONDAY, JUNE 15, 2026

• CAPESTRO ENJOYS STRONG SEASON AS TRAINER, OWNER, BREEDER
• JOCKEY’S TITLE: FRESU HAS 2-WIN LEAD OVER AYUSO ON FINAL DAY
• WORKS: GI GAMELY WINNER THOUGHT PROCESS RETURNS TO TAB

CAPESTRO ENJOYS STRONG SEASON AS TRAINER, OWNER, BREEDER

Veteran horsewoman Paula Capestro will look to cap off what’s been a successful winter and spring season at Santa Anita on Monday with two runners in the eighth and final race on closing day of the Hollywood Meet. She’ll saddle both Chromeflash (6-1) and longshot Maker and Sons (30-1) in the statebred allowance on the hillside turf course.

Like most of the horses she trains, both Chromeflash and Maker and Sons are also owned by Capestro either wholly or in partnership. They’re part of a Capestro-led breeding and racing operation that also includes stallions on property she owns in Hubbard, Ohio, known as Buckeye Stallion Station.

“I’ve been around horses most of my life, this is what I enjoy,” Capestro said.

Capestro has trained racehorses in the mid-1990s. She got her start in the sport via the Thoroughbred sales scene in Florida she was hired by the noted pinhooker and consignor Jerry Bailey.

“My emphasis was 2-year-old in training sales,” Capestro said. “I then got into the racing side when a couple of them wouldn’t sell. It lit the fuse for me to go and get my trainer’s license.”

Capestro has gone one to win 273 races as a trainer with more than $7.7 million in purse earnings. At the current Hollywood Meet, Capestro is 4 for 12 (33 percent) with one runner-up and a pair of third-place finishes. All four of the winners are also owned by Capestro. Two of them, Need Mo Diamonds (Mo Forza) and Prime Listing (Listing), she also bred.

“It’s been good,” Capestro said of her Santa Anita campaign. “There were some nice races written that I was able to slide into and be competitive.”

Capestro, 74, said she has “eight or nine” broodmares in California and generally keeps about 15-20 horses in training at her stable at San Luis Rey Downs. She is aided by longtime assistant Martin Meza, foreman Veronica Becerril and pony rider/van driver Jose Macias.

“I have a very good team here. They’ve been with me a long time,” Capestro said.

In addition to her California operation, Capestro also has a string of about “12 to 15” horses she owns based in the east with trainer Renaldo Richards. On Saturday, Capestro as owner and Richards teamed to win an open allowance at Monmouth Park with Twelve Treasures, a 4-year-old colt by Candy Ride who was bred by the international powerhouse Godolphin.

The most accomplished horse in Capestro’s career to date was River’s Prayer, who she co-owned and trained. A California-bred daughter of Devon Lane, River’s Prayer in 2007 racked up three graded-stakes wins including the GI Princess Rooney at Calder. She finished her career with $921,958 in earnings and a record of 16: 9-1-2.

“For me It’s always depended how much time I had to give to this, and right now I’m able to devote quite a bit of time,” Capestro said. “I’ve learned that so much of this sport depends on luck, timing and just having the right horse.”

JOCKEY’S TITLE: FRESU HAS 2-WIN LEAD OVER AYUSO ON FINAL DAY

Antonio Fresu has a two-win lead over Armando Ayuso in the race for leading jockey at the Hollywood Meet going into closing day Monday.

Fresu, who claimed the riding title at last year’s Hollywood meet, jumped to the lead Sunday when he won both the fourth race aboard Clever Clover ($7.60) for trainer Paul Aguirre and the fifth race with Tahini ($17.20) for trainer George Papaprodromou and the eighth race with Pocket Listing ($3). Ayuso was winless on the 12-race program.

On Monday, Fresu has five mounts on an eight-race program. Ayuso has six rides scheduled following the scratch of Bee Eye Gee, who was the 6-5 morning line favorite in the fifth race.

WORKS: GI GAMELY WINNER THOUGHT PROCESS RETURNS TO TAB

Thought Process on Monday worked for the first time since winning the GI Gamely on May 25. The Phil D’Amato-trainee was joined on the work tab by graded stakes-winning stablemates Public Assembly, who was sixth in the Gamely, and Motorious.

Thought Process worked four furlongs on the main track in 52.6 seconds. In the Gamely at 1 1/8 miles on turf, Thought Process pressed the pace in second and drew off in the stretch for a powerful 2 ¾-length victory. The 4-year-old filly by Collected in 10: 7-0-2 with $680,000 in earnings for owners Estate of Brereton C. Jones, Little Red Feather Racing and Madakat Stables.

Public Assembly worked three furlongs in 38.0 seconds. Veteran turf sprinter Motorious worked four furlongs on the synthetic training track in 48.8 seconds. Motorious, a 7-year-old gelding, has been off since finishing seventh in the GII Joe Hernandez on Dec. 29. He’s worked five times since May 17.

Nooni, who was scratched from Saturday’s GIII Summertime Oaks, worked six furlongs in 1:11.4 for trainer Bob Baffert.

FINISH LINES: Jockey Kazushi Kimura won three races Sunday. He swept the early Daily Double with Taking a Joy Ride ($17.80) for trainer Craig Lewis and Thirty Two Chunk ($3) for trainer Mark Glatt, then also won the seventh race aboard Legal Heir ($12) for trainer Vann Belvoir. Kimura enters closing day 21 for 134 (16 percent) at the Hollywood Meet and ranked fifth in the jockey’s standings…There are mandatory payouts in all pools Monday. Most notably, the $2 Pick 6 starts at 2 p.m. with the third race and the $1 Super High 5 will be offered on the eighth final race at 4:30 p.m.