Gamay Noir scores 49-1 upset in Rampart

Trainer Marty Wolfson came to Gulfstream Park on Saturday pretty confident that he’d win the $150,000 Rampart. And, sure enough, he did, not with his 1-2 favorite Devil’s Cave, but with the 49-1 Gamay Noir, who rallied to a three-quarter-length victory over Unlimited Budget in the Grade 3 fixture for fillies and mares.

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Gamay Noir, a 4-year-old daughter of Harlan’s Holiday, was claimed by Wolfson for Chasing Tail Stables for $100,000 here earlier in the meet. Gamay Noir had been racing exclusively on turf of late, but Wolfson said he and principal owner Marvin Miller bought the horse to race “a route of ground on the dirt.”

As expected, Devil’s Cave set the early pace while pressed by the multiple graded stakes winner Unlimited Budget. Gamay Noir, who raced near the rear of the field for the opening five furlongs, rallied wide into the stretch, continued her bid despite lugging in through midstretch, then wore down the exhausted leaders near the end.

Unlimited Budget appeared to have dead aim on Devil’s Cave leaving the quarter pole but also wearied from the early duel, finally edging past that rival to finish second. Private Ensign finished fourth after steadying behind the top two finishers inside the sixteenth pole.

Following a stewards’ inquiry into the actions of Gamay Noir near midstretch, the original result stood. Gamay Noir completed 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.84 and paid $100.20.

“That was too much weight on my other filly [Devil’s Cave], and I didn’t think [Unlimited Budget] was going to push her like that,” Wolfson said. “When I ran Gamay Noir last time in Tampa, she got in all kinds of trouble; she should have won. I never would have run her back this quick except for the way she ran in Tampa. And [jockey Paco Lopez] just rode her the way I wanted him to ride her. She makes one three-eighths run from the outside. He’s the perfect rider for her because he listens.”