Wishing Gate flies home for Autumn Miss score

Wishing Gate was an easy winner of the Autumn Miss under Gary Stevens (Benoit Photos) Glen Hill Farm’s homebred Wishing Gate easily proved best in Saturday’s Grade 3, $101,500 Autumn Miss at Santa Anita Park, powering to the wire a 1 1/4-length winner under jockey Gary Stevens. The sophomore daughter of Indian Charlie ran a mile in 1:34 3/5 over the firm turf to return $4.80 for the win as the 7-5 favorite. Wishing Gate had a bit of a bumpy start before settling into a wide spot rounding the first turn and down the backstretch as Journey On gunned to the front out of the gate to set the pace in splits of :23 2/5 and :48. Need You Now and a tugging Caraquista kept the leader in their sights early on before the latter began fading. Wishing Gate was just winding up for her run and put in her move entering the final turn. The bay miss circled the game Journey On and Need You Know, who had stuck her head in front through six furlongs in 1:11 3/5, but those two refused to quit. Unfortunately for them, Wishing Gate was in a class of her own as she began pulling away nearing the wire. “I hit the side of the gate pretty hard leaving there,” Stevens explained. “I rarely hear the announcer going into the first turn, but I think I heard Trevor (Denman) say ‘they’re flying up front’ or ‘good pace up front’ and I’m thinkin’, ‘no they’re not!’ since I had her (well in hand.)

“Julien (Leparoux on Need You Now) looked over at about the
five-sixteenths pole and did a double-take and I just had a
smile on my face. Once we got out of the first turn I was
pretty confident; she gives you that feeling throughout the
race. She’s got a nice turn of foot.

“She’s a good filly, real push-button. I can put her where I
want. She was real ‘light-mouthed’ before and they’ve
changed some equipment, and she’s training well, she’s a
real good filly.”

Wishing Gate’s win in the Autumn Miss boosted her career earnings to $305,344
and her mark now stands at 10-4-3-0. She was hard to pull up after the finish, taking off again when fellow
Tom Proctor
trainee Include the Aussie came up to her on the gallop out and dragging Stevens
along for the ride.

“She
kind of blew everything (getting off a bit slowly) because
we were going to kind of send her a little bit and then she
broke a tad slow,” Proctor remarked. “Gary said,
‘Well, I’m going to kind of
leave there running,’ and then when she gets off a tad slow
it kind of screws everything up, but that’s OK.”

Journey On, who just captured a state-bred optional claimer over course and
distance on October 13, finished second while Charlie Em came running late to
take third over Need You Now by a head.

“I was going straight
to the front with the post position we had,” said Journey
On’s rider, Martin Pedroza. “I was going to
go get an ice cream for a minute, I was so far out.

“I had to
break the way I did, since the turn is right there. If I
didn’t do that I would be 11-wide. I used her a little
earlier than I wanted to but I had to, and she handled it
well. She’s a good filly, especially considering she came
back just 13 days ago.”

Oscar Party, Include the Aussie, Flashy Ways, Wittgenstein, Heir Kitty, Miss
Empire and Caraquista completed the order under the wire after the scratch of
also-eligibles Becky Lou and Ighraa.

Wishing Gate has become a force to be reckoned with in California (Benoit Photos) Despite all four of her career wins now coming at a mile, Wishing Gate has proven her mettle at longer distances as well. She was a fast-closing second in the 1 1/8-mile Del Mar Oaks last out, missing by only three parts of a length after running near the rear of that field up until the stretch. The bay miss captured the one-mile San Clemente to earn her first stakes victory prior to the Del Mar Oaks, and is likely to stay at that distance for the time being. Proctor, who also trained her dam, mentioned Hollywood Park’s Grade 1, $250,000 Matriarch going eight furlongs as Wishing Gate’s probable next start on December 1. “We’re kind of looking at that,” Proctor commented about the Matriarch before adding, “Since I brought her to California she’s been a really nice filly. Her mother was a nice mare.” The Florida-bred filly is the first runner produced by Glen Hill’s multiple Grade 3 heroine Rich in Spirit, who won stakes in three straight seasons. The 11-year-old mare took the 2004 John Franks Juvenile Fillies Turf before earning Grade 3 laurels in the 2005 Regret and 2006 Locust Grove. The daughter of Repriced placed in seven other stakes, including the Mint Julep, Modesty and Virginia Oaks, and retired with a mark of 26-7-5-3, $606,066.

Wishing Gate’s fourth dam, 1987 Beverly D. heroine Dancing on a Cloud, is a
half-sister to Canadian champion Kamar, Grade 1 star Love Smitten and Grade 3
winner Stellarette, all influential matrons.

Kamar, the 1990 Broodmare of the Year, is responsible for Canadian champion
Key to the Moon, multiple Grade 1 queen Gorgeous and Grade 1 winner Seaside
Attraction, and her extended tribe includes such champions as Fantastic Light
and Golden Attraction. Love Smitten produced multiple highweight Swain, while
Stellarette is the ancestress of successful sire Northern Afleet.

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