Gimme a Nother, one of a handful of top South African performers to join trainer Graham Motion's barn in the past year, landed her first North American victory in the $252,000 John C. Mabee Stakes (G2T) Sept. 6 at Del Mar.
A group 1 winner in her native country, Gimme a Nother had not attained instant success upon arriving in the United States. The talented mare was a work in progress, and with each start, gave Motion every indication she was capable of taking her picture at the graded stakes level. Three times runner-up in graded stakes, including once to division leader She Feels Pretty and second by a head in Woodbine's Canadian Stakes (G2T) last time out, the Motion trainee clinched an elusive North American win Saturday.
Sent postward as the 2-1 second choice behind local favorite Medoro, Gimme a Nother diverted from the front-running tactics she displayed in the Canadian and instead sat just behind the pacesetting Hopeful. The front-runner set a slower tempo than expected for the 1 1/8-mile affair, leading the way through early splits of :24.11 and :48.01. Medoro rode the rail throughout under Umberto Rispoli and moved out to launch her bid around the final turn just as jockey Juan Hernandez pulled the trigger on Gimme a Nother. The dueling mares surged past the tiring leader and battled down the stretch. Inside the eighth pole, Gimme a Nother shook clear of the 3-5 favorite and pulled away for a 1 1/4-length score.
Gimme a Nother ($6.80), blazed her final eighth-mile in :11.66 and clocked the 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.55 over a firm turf course.
"She (Motion assistant Alice Clapham) told me she's a really nice filly," Hernandez said. The current Del Mar leading rider collected his 10th stakes win of the summer meet in the Mabee. "(Clapham) told me she can run from behind the pace; you can do whatever you want with her.
"Around the turn, she was getting out a little bit and the No. 4 (Medoro) horse was getting a little close to me. So I was just trying to get in a good position and save ground. As soon as the horse ahead of me stepped out a little bit, around the quarter pole, that's when she took off."
Medoro, making just her second start in eight months, was second by 1 3/4 lengths over former Motion trainee Mission of Joy in third. Last year's Mabee winner, Hang the Moon, finished fifth.
Owned by Newstead Stables, the ultra-consistent Gimme a Nother notched her eighth win in 12 trips to the post. She is by multiple leading South African stallion Gimmethegreenlight and out of the group 1-winning Tiger Ridge mare Nother Russia.
