ALBANY, Calif. (November 24, 2017) Steph Being Steph and jockey Aaron Gryder stalked the pace before pouncing on the early leader and racing by to win the $50,000 Golden Gate Debutante for 2-year-old fillies at Golden Gate Fields.
“Watching her replays, I knew she was a filly that you have to ride and the more you ride her the more she reaches out,” said Gryder, who was happy with the effort his filly put out. “When we got into the far turn, I could see [Abel] Cedillo had a lot of horse left and was going to try to sneak away so I started to ride her sooner than I wanted to.”
“It wasn’t until the three-sixteenths pole where she got into her full stride and was able to make up ground,” continued Gryder. “She was very professional. She was quiet but alert in the post parade and was very responsive to everything I asked of her.”
She’s No Drama, who went off favored at even money for jockey Abel Cedillo and trainer Jeff Bonde, went to the lead and set blistering fast splits of 22.09, 44.64 and 56.98 seconds before getting tagged in the final sixteenth of a mile. Steph Being Steph completed the six furlongs on Tapeta in 1:10.23 seconds while She’s No Drama finished three-quarters of a length back in second. Streewithnoname, who went off at 53-1 for Southern California conditioner Eoin Harty, ran third while 6-1 shot Aniva Bay completed the superfecta.
Steph Being Steph, a 2-year-old filly by Majestic Warrior, shipped up to Golden Gate Fields from Southern California after most recently finishing second in The Anoakia Stakes at Santa Anita. She was purchased for $240,000 as a 2-year-old and is currently under the care of trainer Brian Koriner.
“She was an expensive filly and we wanted to get her some black type,” said co-owner Scott Sherwood, who races as Blinkers On Racing Stable. “We entered in The Desi Arnez Stakes last week at Del Mar but she stepped on a rock and had a little heat in her foot. We had this race as a backup and it worked out well.”
All who follow the NBA know very well that Steph Being Steph is named after Steph Curry, the star point guard for the Golden State Warriors. The real question is….how did this filly get her name?
“Her sire is Majestic Warrior and the dam is More Than Proud,” chuckled Sherwood. “My wife Lisa named the horse. We live up here in The Bay Area so we had to name this filly something after our Golden State Warriors.”
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