Gratefully Stays Perfect in Stakes Debut, Wins Wishing Well at Santa Anita

Florent Geroux and trainer Robert Falcone Jr. teamed to keep Gratefully perfect, as the 4-year-old filly by Laoban won the Wishing Well Stakes at Santa Anita Park and improved to 5-for-5 on Feb. 21, 2026. Owned by Adelphi Racing Club with Shelly and Russell Hume, Gratefully made her stakes debut in the $100,000 restricted sprint and "remained unbeaten in five career starts," a result that immediately raises the question of whether connections will push her into graded company.

Gratefully raced on the lead in the six-furlong turf test at Santa Anita in Arcadia, CA, and delivered what Santa Anita called a "thrilling victory" and other sources labeled a "gritty victory." Ridden by Florent Geroux and trained by Robert Falcone Jr., she left allowance company and sustained the unbeaten streak in a race restricted to horses that have not won a graded stakes since Aug. 1, 2025. The Wishing Well drew a deep sprint field that included multiple graded stakes-caliber names.

The filly’s résumé explains the momentum behind her breakthrough in stakes company. Gratefully entered the Wishing Well 4-for-4, having dominated a second-level allowance going six furlongs on turf at Santa Anita on Jan. 8, 2026 and previously posting three wins in 2025 in New York. Those earlier victories included a debut in the slop at Saratoga, an off-the-turf muddy score at Aqueduct, and a turf success at Aqueduct in October. Pre-race analysis noted that her speed figures improved each outing and suggested she may not yet have reached her ceiling.

Sunday’s victory came against a field that featured Jungle Peace, the lone graded stakes winner in the lineup after taking last year’s G3 Senorita for trainer Phil D’Amato; Egyptian Mau, trained by Hall of Famer Neil Drysdale and exiting a fourth in the GIII Las Cienegas on Jan. 11; and Irish-bred Saratoga Special, purchased at Tattersalls for $451,338 and making her U.S. debut. Sports Yahoo had listed Gratefully 2/1 on the morning line, with Jungle Peace and Egyptian Mau both shown at 9/2.

Beyond the headline of an unbeaten record, the business implications are clear: a stakes victory at Santa Anita enhances Gratefully’s racing and broodmare value and positions the Adelphi Racing Club partnership for higher-profile targets. Key unanswered items remain, official margin of victory, final time and payouts, and will be resolved when the Equibase chart and full Daily Racing Form report are available. For now, Gratefully’s five-for-five run, trained by Robert Falcone Jr. and piloted by Florent Geroux, stands as a compelling argument that this lightly raced Laoban filly may be ready for the next step up in class.