Windy Walk, the longest shot in the five-horse field, upset her more-fancied Grade I-winning foes with a wire-to-wire victory in the Rampart Stakes Thursday at Gulfstream Park. The chestnut filly was quickly at the head of affairs and was under a snug hold while setting a dawdling opening quarter of :25.82 as GI Alabama Stakes winner and 5-2 second choice Power Squeeze and GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint winner and 2-5 favorite Soul of an Angel were second last and last, respectively. Power Squeeze rolled up three wide on the far turn and looked ready to take the lead into the stretch, but Windy Walk kicked away again. Power Squeeze was coming back at her late and Soul of Angel, who had tipped to the center of the track while still last at the top of the lane, was closing rapidly, but the longshot held on gamely to the wire.
Windy Wind had plied her trade mostly in the claiming ranks in her previous 13 lifetime starts. The chestnut filly broke her maiden versus $20,000 maiden claimers at Keeneland in April and was a well beaten sixth in her only other stakes start to date in the July 12 Wilton Stakes at Saratoga. She came into the Rampart off three straight starter allowance wins: at Churchill Sept. 29, Keeneland Oct. 26 and Churchill Nov. 20. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
RAMPART S., $125,000, Gulfstream, 12-26, 3yo/up, f/m, 1m, 1:38.01, ft.
1–WINDY WALK, 118, f, 3, Munnings–Missalaney (MSP), by
Badge of Silver. ($90,000 RNA Ylg '22 KEESEP). 1ST BLACK
TYPE WIN. O/B-Richard Perkins (KY); T-Christopher Davis;
J-Tyler Gaffalione. $77,500. Lifetime Record: 14-7-0-1,
$321,102.
2–Power Squeeze, 122, f, 3, Union Rags–Callmethesqueeze, by
Awesome Again. ($50,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP; $90,000 2yo '23
OBSAPR). O-Lea Farms, LLC; B-Forging Oaks LLC (KY); T-Jorge
Delgado. $25,000.
3–Soul of an Angel, 125, m, 5, Atreides–Factor One, by The
Factor. ($3,000 RNA Ylg '20 FTKOCT). O-C2 Racing Stable LLC,
Agave Racing Stable & Ken T Reimer; B-Westbrook Stables LLC
(KY); T-Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. $12,500.
Margins: NK, HD, 3 1/4. Odds: 14.10, 2.60, 0.40.
Also Ran: Dazzling Move, Charlie's Wish. Scratched: Intrepid Daydream, Save Time, Unsolved Mystery.
#3 WINDY WALK ($30.20) goes gate-to-wire in the $140,000 Rampart Stakes at Gulfstream Park holding off the classy #2 Power Squeeze and @breederscup winner #8 Soul of An Angel. The daughter of Munnings was ridden by @Tyler_Gaff and is trained by Chris Davis. pic.twitter.com/pF1uUIity1
— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) December 26, 2024
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