Sumaya US Stable’s Ghalia (Medaglia d’Oro) took her perfect record to three-for-three and registered her first black-type win Sunday when making her two-turn debut in the Sunland Park Oaks. In no hurry early, the 2-1 shot ran in second last as longshot Soft Cheese (Quality Road) and favored Grade I winner Noted and Quoted (The Factor) battled it out through early splits of :22.41 and :45.75 with local heroine Kell Paso (Divine Park) and What What What (Archarcharch) hot on their heels. The chalk called it a day after the opening half as Ghalia ranged up on the outside to sit fourth. Four wide turning for home, the $600,000 KEENOV buy swept by What What What in the lane and looked poised to leave new leader Kell Paso in her dust, but that rival dug deep, battling Ghalia every step to the wire. However, Jose Ortiz kept on asking and Ghalia kept on finding to score by a neck. Kell Paso finished 5 3/4 lengths clear of What What What and Noted and quoted faded to last.

Ghalia donned cap and gown by a dominant 6 3/4 lengths when unveiled in a six-panel test at Gulfstream Jan. 22. She made it two in a row with another front-running score in a 6 1/2-furlong optional claimer in Hallandale Feb. 15.

Oussama Aboughazale’s Sumaya US Stable and trainer Todd Pletcher also teamed up to win last weekend’s GII Rebel S. at Oaklawn with “TDN Rising Star” Malagacy (Shackleford). Aboughazale recently purchased a farm in Kentucky to build his U.S. breeding operation and has been doing a lot of shopping to fill it at the winter breeding stock sales.

Courtesy of the TDN