It had been six begins and almost a 12 months since Gibberish visited the winner’s circle, but the 4-year-old Lea filly was first across the wire again Nov. 6 at Belmont Park, drawing away by 3 3/4 lengths in the $145,500 Turnback the Alarm Handicap (G3).
Skilled by Saffie Joseph Jr. for e 5 Racing Thoroughbreds, Gibberish captured her first stakes win final November within the Treasure Chest Stakes at Delta Downs. Saturday she tracked 2-5 favourite Miss Marissa in the early going after breaking from the outermost post of five. Jockey Dylan Davis settled Gibberish in third as Miss Marissa led through opening fractions of :23.56 and :47.22 over a fast track.
As Miss Marissa stayed to the inside, Davis urged Gibberish up from the three-path, taking command with three-quarters in 1:12.29. Gibberish kept the lead entering the stretch and easily repelled So Darn Hot ‘s late bid, completing 1 1/8 miles in a final time of 1:51.93.
Gibberish, off at 3-1, paid $8.20 on a $2 win ticket.
“We knew who the horse to beat was and we knew Gibberish can be forwardly placed,” said Sarah Shaffer, assistant to Joseph. “The idea was to be close to that. But if there was not much pace in front, we weren’t going to restrain our filly. We wanted her to go to the front and get into a comfortable stride. We had another horse kind of creep up in there and put the pressure on, and it set up beautifully for her.”
Gibberish is entered in The November Sale, Fasig-Tipton’s marquee breeding inventory sale Nov. 9, as a racing or broodmare prospect. She might be consigned by Indian Creek, agent, as Hip 176.
“I’ve a van arrange for her to ship out to the horse sale in Lexington. She’s headed to the sale,” Shaffer mentioned. “I believe broodmare is in her future and I believe she deserved it to exit with one other stakes win.”
So Darn Scorching bested Jilted Bride by five lengths for second. Miss Marissa ran fourth while Firing Carol was eased home to finish fifth.
“I just wanted to come out running and not give an easy lead to Miss Marissa,” said Davis, who rode Gibberish for the first time. “I saw the 4 horse (Firing Carol) was getting more engaged, so I was able to back off since she was doing a little more of the dirty work for me. She’s a big, nice-moving filly. She got to the turn and the half-mile pole and started picking up her stride.
“I didn’t want to fight with her too much. If you start fighting with her, she tends to back off, just looking at her replays. I let her run until the turn there and once we got in the stretch, she got her stride going even more and she was determined to get to the wire.”
Gibberish improved her record to 5-2-1 in 14 starts and increased her earnings to $340,010. This year she was also runner-up in the June 6 Lady’s Secret Stakes at Monmouth Park and the July 10 Delaware Handicap (G2), the latter 1 1/4 lengths behind Miss Marissa. Agent Mike Ryan went to $230,000 to safe her as a weanling from the St George Gross sales consignment to the 2017 Keeneland November Breeding Inventory Sale.
Bred in Kentucky by Dell Ridge Farm, Gibberish is out of the unraced Pulpit mare Nippy, a half sister to graded stakes winners Well Monied and Economic Model . Nippy has also produced stakes-placed and $206,834 earner Carom and her most recent foal is a yearling Cairo Prince filly. She was last reported bred to Maximum Security for 2022.
Video: Turnback the Alarm H. (G3)
