Meaning tops leaderboard in Santa Anita Oaks; Always a Runner gets up in Gazelle

Apr 04, 2026 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Meaning motored late in the Santa Anita Oaks (G2) (Photo by Benoit Photos)

Saturday marked the final two stops on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks, completing the leaderboard ahead of the fillies’ classic at Churchill Downs on May 1.

In the $201,000 Santa Anita Oaks (G2), 9-10 favorite Meaning mowed down stablemate Brooklyn Blonde, giving trainer Michael McCarthy – and sire Gun Runner – the exacta (a one-two finish).

Meaning now ranks as the Oaks points leader. She added 100 points to her account to finish with a grand total of 126.

A few minutes later in the $200,000 Gazelle (G3) at Aqueduct, Hall of Famer Gun Runner made it a double when another daughter, Always a Runner, made a victorious stakes debut. The Chad Brown trainee reeled in pacesetter Pashmina to extend her record to 2-for-2.

Santa Anita Oaks (G2)

Bridlewood Farm and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners’ Meaning was winning her second straight scoring race, after the Feb. 8 Las Virgenes S. She was freshened for the Santa Anita Oaks, and the patient plan paid off.

Ridden for the first time on Saturday by Juan Hernandez, Meaning tracked the pace on the inside. Stablemate Brooklyn Blonde flanked her from a stalking spot on the outside, and she got first run turning for home.

Although Meaning had to wait briefly to swing out on the far turn, she soon gathered momentum into the stretch and took off. Brooklyn Blonde tried hard, but Meaning was far too strong.

Meaning pulled two lengths clear while finishing 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.99. Her scorecard now stands at 4-3-0-0, $307,000, and her only loss was a troubled fourth in last fall’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Del Mar.

Brooklyn Blonde, who was stepping up from a maiden win, performed admirably as an isolated second. Crossing the wire 13 3/4 lengths clear of the rest, she banked 50 Oaks points.

“I’m proud of both of these fillies,” McCarthy said of Meaning and Brooklyn Blonde. “I felt good in the stretch, but I felt a lot better after crossing the line.”

Bank Shot checked in third (25 points for a total of 56), followed by Red Cherry (15 points), French Blue (10 points for a total of 25), and the tailed-off Hypergamy. Forced Entry was pulled up early but walked off the track.

“She broke really well,” jockey Mike Smith said of Forced Entry, “but she must have hit herself leaving the gate. She was real choppy and didn’t feel comfortable,” he said. “I would rather not take any chances, so I wanted to pull her up.”

Trainer Bob Baffert noted that Forced Entry “seemed fine” afterward.

Meaning was bred by Stonehaven Steadings in Kentucky and sold for $440,000 as a Keeneland September yearling. She is out of the Into Mischief mare Figure of Speech, who placed third in the 2019 Spinaway (G1) at Saratoga.

Gazelle (G3)

Douglas Scharbauer and Three Chimneys Farm’s Always a Runner just made her belated career debut Feb. 6 at Tampa Bay Downs, where she romped by 6 1/2 lengths. But the well-regarded filly would have raced a lot sooner, if not for illness that sidelined her last season.

“She’s like a female spitting image of Emerging Market,” Brown said, comparing Always a Runner to his recent Louisiana Derby (G2) winner, who booked his ticket to the Kentucky Derby (G1) in just his second career start.

“Both horses had pneumonia and almost had the same exact thing. Both of them had to leave my care and go in a hyperbaric chamber. This filly’s pneumonia was more serious than the other, and that’s why they didn’t start in the fall. They were both dead-ready to run, right here in New York and to debut the right way in the fall as two of our best prospects in their divisions. They both missed it, which I was just sick over, because I really felt I had an Oaks and a Derby horse in both horses.

“Both of them end up over at Tampa in two-turn races because I’m playing catch-up a bit. I wanted to give both horses a chance to get to their respective races without compromising their futures, so it’s a little bit of a fine line. She was able to win her maiden around two turns as well, and didn’t she come out of there with a minor little temp, again.

“I really took her off the Oaks trail, until her last two works. I called both owners and said, ‘look, I’m going to take a shot in this race because she just breezed too, too good.’ Last-minute decision to put her on the van and send her up here the other day.”

Brown’s audible to give Always a Runner a chance in the Gazelle worked out very well. Under Dylan Davis, the dark bay settled into a ground-saving spot several lengths off the early pace.

Up front, Pashmina was controlling affairs, and she attempted to get away from the field on the far turn. But Always a Runner made an eye-catching advance on the rail to emerge as the only potential challenger.

Down the stretch, Pashmina kept finding on the lead. Always a Runner looked green at times in pursuit, until she orchestrated one final surge nearing the wire.

That was enough for Always a Runner to overhaul Pashmina by 1 1/4 lengths in a final time of 1:50.97 for 1 1/8 miles. She was faster than Albus, who needed 1:51.71 to win the ensuing Wood Memorial (G2) on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.

𝗔𝗟𝗪𝗔𝗬𝗦 𝗔 𝗥𝗨𝗡𝗘𝗥 wins the 131st running of the Gazelle G2 and notches 100 Kentucky Oaks points for trainer Chad Brown.

The @Three_Chimneys Farm daughter of Gun Runner was ridden by jockey @DavisJockey. pic.twitter.com/g8uBwdHwAb

— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) April 4, 2026

Pashmina collected 50 points as the runner-up, upping her total to 63. There was an 8 3/4-length gap back to Paradise, the 1.32-1 favorite, in third (25 points for a total of 62.50). Nycon was fourth (15 points for a total of 33.75), and Two Bits rounded out the top five (10 points to double her tally to 20). Next came Slow Kara, Baffle, and Victory Hall. Hot Gossip was scratched.

Always a Runner, who paid $11.38, boosted her bankroll to $129,200.

Although Always a Runner was sold to Scharbauer for $1.05 million as a yearling at Keeneland September, her breeder, Three Chimneys, stayed involved in her ownership.

Always a Runner is the first foal from the Grade 2-placed Always Carina, a half-sister (by Malibu Moon) to 2019 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) star Structor. Both Always Carina and Structor were likewise trained by Brown.