HOLLYWOOD PARK : Miss Josh Wins Gamely ‘Cap by Half-Length

Bonner Young’s affection for her 5-year-old mare is unabided. “We bred her, we raised her and we love her,” she said after Miss Josh, in only her second California appearance, came from slightly off the pace to win the $113,000 Gamely Handicap by a half-length Sunday at Hollywood Park.

Young and her brother, George Rowand of Orlean, Va., own Miss Josh in partnership with their mother, whose nickname is Josh and was told about her namesake’s victory while attending a family reunion in Macon, Ga.

A couple of horses with excuses came from far back to chase Miss Josh across the finish line, Island Jamboree running second and nosing out Fire The Groom, the 8-5 favorite who was third in a field that was reduced to 11 with the scratches of Formidable Lady and Appealing Missy.

Fire The Groom, who went into the Gamely with a five-race winning streak, broke from the No. 10 stall and was away slowly. Fire The Groom was 10 lengths behind, in 10th place, at one point, and was pursuing a slow pace in addition to most of the horses.

“My horse missed the break and that cost her the race,” said Gary Stevens, Fire The Groom’s jockey. “She was a lot farther back than I wanted to be and it just left her too much to do. She ran a great race, after having a lot of ground to make up.”

The English-raced Fire The Groom had won all three American starts before Sunday.

Miss Josh, ridden by Laffit Pincay Jr. and trained by Barclay Tagg, paid $15.80 to win as the fourth betting choice in a crowd of 23,966 and earned $68,000 for running 1 1/8 miles on grass in 1:47 2/5. The Nasty and Bold-Highland Mills mare has won 12 times in 26 starts and is now seven for 15 on grass.

Pincay had ridden the Maryland-based Miss Josh once before, when they lost by a nose to Foresta in the All Along Stakes at Laurel last October. The finish was so close that both Pincay and Tagg thought Miss Josh had won.

Tagg, 53, had never started a horse in California until he brought Miss Josh to Hollywood Park for the Matriarch last December. Pincay would have ridden her, but he was sidelined after having suffered a broken collarbone for the 10th time.

Under Jorge Velasquez, Miss Josh was the early leader in the Matriarch before finishing sixth, beaten 3 1/2 lengths by Countus In.

Tagg was critical of Velasquez’s ride. “He’s a Hall of Fame jockey, but he let the mare run off with him,” the trainer said. “I wanted him to sit right off the pace, which is what Laffit did perfectly this time.”

While the three inside horses--Freya Stark, Dead Heat and Little Brianne--battled for the lead Sunday, Pincay had Miss Josh in fourth place, never more than three lengths off the pace. With the leaders dropping back, Miss Josh moved ahead with about an eighth of a mile left and was hard-pressed to hold off Island Jamboree and Fire The Groom.

“I knew I had it this time,” said Pincay, referring to his near-miss with Miss Josh in Maryland. “I’ve been waiting for a long time to make up for that. I was able to rate her today. The first part, she was a little bit hard to handle. She was pulling hard, but she relaxed pretty good down the backside. Then she finished strongly.”

Island Jamboree, at 16-1, was making her first stakes start in more than three months. She had beaten allowance horses at Hollywood May 15.

“I knew she’d run good,” said Eddie Delahoussaye, who rode Island Jamboree. “She ran a great race last time, and I knew if she ran like that again, she’d be right there. At the head of the stretch I thought we were going to win it, but that’s the way it goes. The other horse just had a little left.”

Tagg had planned to fly Miss Josh back to Maryland Tuesday, but there’s a possibility that she might run at Hollywood again, in the $200,000 Beverly Hills Handicap, which is the same distance as the Gamely, June 30.

Throwing out the Matriarch, Miss Josh has had a string of six races where she has been either first or second.

“This mare loves to run, she’s all heart,” Tagg said. “She’s pure race horse. She’s had a few physical problems, and in the mornings that’s been one of the main problems training her. She keeps trying to do too much.”

Horse Racing Notes

Little Brianne, the 6-year-old mare who was the oldest starter in the Gamely, finished last in her 48th start. The winner of the Santa Maria and Santa Margarita Handicaps at Santa Anita last winter carried 121 pounds, one more than Fire The Groom and two more than Miss Josh. . . . Laffit Pincay Jr. rode the Gamely winner for the fourth time, winning the stake for the first time since Ack’s Secret in 1982.

Pincay also won the Chinook Pass Handicap, the race before the Gamely, riding Tanker Port to victory by a head over Bruho, with Navajo Storm, the favorite, finishing fifth in the six-horse field. Tanker Port’s time of 1:14 3/5 was one-fifth of a second slower than the track record for 6 1/2 furlongs. . . . Corey Nakatani won three of the first four races, the fourth race going to his mount, Redneck Ways, when the stewards disqualified Stan’s Boy, a 25-1 shot, for interference on the backstretch.