Del Mar: Turf miler Thought Process takes San Clemente

Thought Process was turned loose by jockey Héctor Berrios making the second turn. She responded by taking the lead on her way to a 1 3/4-length win Saturday in the Grade 2, $200,000 San Clemente Handicap on the turf at Del Mar.

Trained by Phil D’Amato, the homebred daughter of Collected was sent off as the 2-5 favorite in the field of nine 3-year-old fillies. She delivered her fifth win in seven starts and ran her record in turf miles to 5-for-6. Her previous graded-stakes victory came Oct. 6 in the Surfer Girl (G3) at Santa Anita.

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Carrying the top weight of 123 pounds, Thought Process broke quickly from post 5, but jockey Héctor Berrios had her on a short rein around the first turn while Silent Law (18-1) set the pace through splits of 23.82 and 48.34 seconds.

In fourth early and in second midway, Thought Process raced to the front on the backstretch. Berrios tightened his hold again before accelerating to the lead through three-quarters of a mile in 1:12.75. That was where Silent Law began to fade.

As she started to draw clear in the homestretch, Thought Process drifted out, but she was safely ahead of the rest of the field. Casalu (15-1) and Will Then (5-1) made late runs only to come up short.

Thought Process finished with a time of 1:36.24 on the firm turf and returned $2.80, $2.20 and $2.10. Second-place Casalu paid $7.00 and $3.60. Third-place Will Then returned $2.80 to show.

A homebred for the estate of Brereton Jones, Thought Process also is owned by Little Red Feather Racing and Madaket Stables. She is 4: 3-0-0 on the Del Mar grass with her only loss there being a ninth-place result last fall in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. After that she got a 7 1/2-month break before coming back with an allowance win June 14 at Santa Anita.