When jockey Kazushi Kimura picked up the mount on Ambaya from the injured Antonio Fresu in the Dec. 28 American Oaks (G1T) at Santa Anita Park, little did he know he had just inherited a grade 1 winner. Trainer Jonathan Thomas, who was saddling three horses in the race, put Kimura through a last-minute cram course.
"I saw he wasn't riding the last two races, so I made him watch replays," Thomas said. "Then I went and talked to him for five minutes, and I shook him and said, 'This filly's training fantastic—you can win if you get the right trip.' And he rode her beautifully. He really gave her a great ride."
Ribbons took the early lead in the 1 1/4-mile American Oaks, setting easy fractions of :23.55 and :48.30. Favored Cliffs sat in second, while Kimura let Ambaya race in fifth.
That put Ambaya in an excellent position to move forward, though to get the job done, she had to come through between horses. She did so willingly and scored by a half-length in 2:01.02 over Cliffs. Will Then, also trained by Thomas, finished third by a neck.
"She always steps through from the gate, but today was actually smooth right out the gate, so it was quite easy to get a nice position," Kimura said. "I didn't need to fight with her or send her too much. I was tracking Flavien (aboard stablemate Wil Then), and when he decided to move to the outside, I got the extra room for myself."
Both Thomas and Kimura had doubles on the opening-day Santa Anita card. Thomas won the Mathis Mile (G2T) with Hiding in Honduras, and Kimura piloted Secured Freedom to his maiden victory for trainer Tim Yakteen. Fresu rode Hiding in Honduras for Thomas and was slated to be aboard Ambaya. However, Fresu injured his left foot aboard Anmer Hall in the seventh race and had to take off the rest of his mounts.
Thomas noted that Ambaya is the trainer's first grade 1 win for George Strawbridge's Augustin Stable. Strawbridge owns all three of the Thomas American Oaks runners. He bred Ambaya and Will Then, while As Catch Can, who finished ninth, was a $210,000 2-year-old purchase bred by Loren Nichols.
A winner once in five prior starts, Ambaya finished third in the Sept. 27 Christiana Stakes at Delaware Park in her only other stakes attempt.
"She's a really beautiful mover; she's well-bred; she's come to hand and incrementally gotten better," Thomas said. "She's had some really bad luck in her last two starts, but she really backed it up today with what we saw in the morning from her training."
Strawbridge raced Kundray, the dam of Ambaya and a New York-bred daughter of Distorted Humor. Thomas trained Kundray, who won three of nine races and earned $149,635 while racing in allowance company primarily in New York. Both of the mare's earlier starters are winners. The second dam is multiple graded stakes winner J'ray, an earner of $969,843.
Ambaya, Dr. Venkman, and Banishing are among the eight 2025 black-type winners sired by perennial leading sire Ghostzapper, the 2004 Horse of the Year and champion older male. Ghostzapper stood most of his career in Kentucky, first at Adena Springs and later at Hill 'n' Dale Farm. He was moved for 2025 to Adena Springs North in Ontario, Canada, and is now listed as pensioned.
