Maxim Rate (Exchange Rate) wins the Gamely Stakes (Grade 1) for owners Slam Dunk Racing and Simon Callaghan.
This was Maxim Rate’s third stakes win having captured Grade 2 & 3 prizes last season but it was her first at the top level. The five year old mare stalked the early pace under Juan Hernandez before bursting through the pack at the turn to win in good style.
After the race trainer Callaghan said ”We knew she was training really well coming into this race,” said trainer Simon Callaghan. “We felt that the set up would be perfect. A mile and an eighth, back here in California, I think is totally her game. We had some speed to run at and it actually turned out exactly how we wrote up the race in advance.”
“The Grade 1 was our main aim and to pull it off is fantastic for all of the owners, all of the Slam Dunk team, everyone involved. Now, we’ll just space the races out and it will be nice to get to the Breeders’ Cup.”
A winner Of the 2020 Goldikova Stakes (Gr.2) over a mile on the Santa Anita turf three starts back, Maxim Rate was then fifth in the Matriarch (Gr.1) at Del Mar before finishing in the same place at Keeneland. She notched her third graded stakes win here and her fourth win from eight starts over the Santa Anita turf. With the winner’s share of $180,000, she increased her earnings to $597,185 while improving her overall mark to 6-3-0 in 16 starts.
Maxim Rate was purchased as a yearling from the Keeneland September Yearling Sales.
