It seems like such a long time since Medaglia d’Oro was all the rage at Saratoga. The Bobby Frankel-trained star was much more than his performances at the Spa, but that is where he really took things to a new level on the track.
Flash forward a full 23 years from his romping win in the Jim Dandy and determined score in the Travers, and the venerable stallion had himself a day on Saturday at Saratoga.
Saratoga: Nitrogen scores in Grade 1 Alabama.
Just a nose shy from being unbeaten in seven starts this season, Nitrogen moved to the head of the class of the 3-year-old fillies division with a stylish, 1 1/2-length victory in the Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama Stakes.
The only filly close to her at the wire of the prestigious and historic race at the Spa was Good Cheer. The Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner ran a big bounce-back race and is a strong no. 2 in the race for an Eclipse Award.
The two excellent fillies are both homebreds and they are both daughters of the great Medaglia d’Oro.
Now a sire of 30 Grade 1 winners, the son of El Prado and the Bailjumper mare Cappucino Bay was top-notch on the track and has been even better in a 20-year career at stud.
As a runner Medaglia d’Oro was a model of consistency. He finished first or second in 15 of his 17 career starts while taking on the best of his era start after start. Holding his form from debut to retirement, he came in second in two consecutive editions of the Breeders’ Cup Classic. All told he earned $5,754,720 while racing in the colors of owner Edmund Gann.
Saratoga certainly has been good to Medaglia d’Oro over the years. The winner of the Jim Dandy (G2) and Travers (G1) at 3, he came back the next summer to finish 3-for-3 at the upstate New York oval with a driving victory in the Whitney (G1). Many of his best offspring have carried over his love for the Spa.
With her win in Saratoga’s most prized race for the fillies, Nitrogen became Medaglia d’Oro's third grade 1 winner this season, joining Good Cheer and Spirit of St Louis.
The 26-year-old stallion who stands for $75,000 this year at Darley's Jonabell Farm near Lexington, Ky., got off and running immediately as a sire of fillies.
Rachel Alexandra remains his best-ever American runner. The Hall of Fame filly won all eight of her starts as a 3-year-old and beat males in three Grade 1 races during her horse-of-the-year campaign. Her final victory of 2009 came when she raised the rafters at the Spa by holding off every challenge from the older males in the Woodward (G1).
Rachel Alexandra was part of the first crop for Medaglia d’Oro, and Nitrogen and Good Cheer are from his 17th crop to race. Somewhere in between came another special filly he sired.
Songbird was a champion at both 2 and 3. In her best season she romped home in both the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) and the Alabama (G1) at Saratoga. Also a Hall of Fame member, she missed joining Rachel Alexandra in the 8-for-8 club in 2016 by the narrowest of margins to Beholder in the season-ending Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1).
Best known for his wonderful fillies, Medaglia d’Oro has sired some excellent males as well. Golden Sixty was the best of the bunch. The Australia-bred, Hong Kong-trained runner won 26 of his 31 career starts and was named the horse of the year in Hong Kong three consecutive seasons. The great gelding was retired last year at the age of 9.
The Breeders’ Cup Turf hero of 2017, Talismanic is a testament to Medaglia d’Oro’s versatility as a sire. His offspring have excelled at any distance and on any surface all over the globe.
Nitrogen and Good Cheer may not be quite the fillies that Rachel Alexandra and Songbird were, but they are very good, and like their sire, they are consistent.
Good Cheer did throw in one disappointing race over a sloppy track in the Acorn (G1), but that’s her only poor performance in a career that began with seven consecutive victories.
Meanwhile, Nitrogen appears to be that rare horse of championship quality on both dirt and grass. Having missed by only a whisker last time out in the Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1), she has proven herself now while bouncing back and forth between turf and both sloppy and fast main-track surfaces. She has yet to fail to fire in 10 career starts.
The Alabama was an important victory for Nitrogen and her team of owner and breeder D J Stable, trainer Mark Casse and rider José Ortiz, but at least a portion of the story was about her sire.
At 26 years old, Medaglia d’Oro had yet another day in the sun on Saturday at Saratoga. To watch a stallion of his age sire the fillies who run 1-2 in one of the most prestigious races of the division is rare, and the 2002 Travers winner shows no sign of slowing down yet.
A wonderful racehorse of equal parts quality and consistency, he has been even better as a stallion. It’s great to see Medaglia d’Oro going strong after all these years. American breeding needs more just like him.
