Medaglia d'Oro's Grade 1 Double

Like a heavyweight landing a jab and a right cross, Darley's Medaglia d'Oro  took back-to-back races at Del Mar Aug. 17 and reestablished his place among North America's elite sires.

The 20-year-old son of El Prado was represented by his 24th and 25th career grade/group 1 winners when 3-year-old filly Cambier Parc unleashed a ferocious turn of foot to win the Del Mar Oaks presented by The Jockey Club (G1T) by 1 1/4 lengths for Larry Best's OXO Racing. In the next race, Hronis Racing's Higher Power captured the $1 million TVG Pacific Classic (G1) by a commanding 5 1/4 lengths. 

"That moment illustrates just how versatile Medaglia d'Oro is, getting colts and fillies of the highest caliber on both surfaces," said Darren Fox, sales manager of Darley America's stallion division, where the sire stands for $200,000.

Fox said Medaglia d'Oro is now the only sire in the world represented by six grade 1 winners on dirt and six grade 1 winners on turf during the last six years.

"I remind people when they breed to Medaglia d'Oro, whether you get a colt or a filly they are both equally valuable in the market and both perform equally well on the track," he said.

The sire's lifetime statistics bear this out. Out of 133 black-type winners through Aug. 18, Medaglia d'Oro has 59 (6%) that are male and 74 (7%) female. These stakes winners include 65 (3%) that won on dirt and 77 (4%) that won on turf.  By average earnings, the sire's male runners have earned $98,966 compared with his female runners that average $97,364.

As further evidence of the sire's versatility just for the 2019 racing season, Medaglia d'Oro is one of only four U.S. sires to date to be ranked in the top 10 on both the BloodHorse.com's general leading sire list and on the leading turf sire list. The others are the late Giant's Causeway, Darley's Hard Spun , and Gainesway's Tapit .

The Del Mar Oaks was Cambier Parc's third graded stakes victory but her first at the grade 1 level. The filly has now won four races out of six starts this year and banked nearly $500,000. She was bred in Kentucky by Bonne Chance Farm and bought by Best for $1.25 million at the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale out of Gainesway's consignment. Cambier Parc is the seventh foal out of graded stakes winner Sealy Hill, who has produced three graded stakes winners out of six to race.

Cambier Parc is the second graded stakes winner and first grade 1 winner produced from the cross of El Prado and his sons and grandsons with mares by Point Given, which is represented by 14 foals of racing age so far. The other graded stakes winner produced by this cross is grade 3 victress Talk Veuve to Me, a filly by Medaglia d'Oro's son and third-crop sire Violence  out of the winning Point Given mare Biblical Point.

The Pacific Classic was Higher Power's first black-type win and his third victory of the year out of seven starts. The 4-year-old colt was bred by Josephine Abercrombie's Pin Oak Stud out of her homebred stakes winner Alternate, who is a daughter of Seattle Slew and has now produced three black-type winners (two in graded company) and six other winners out of nine to race.

The cross of Medaglia d'Oro with mares by Seattle Slew and his sons and grandsons has far greater representation from 212 foals of racing age to date. Among these foals are 19 (13%) black-type winners, which include nine graded stakes winners. The top runners among the graded stakes winners are grade 1 winners Plum Pretty, Bolt d'Oro , and Dickinson, who are all out of A.P. Indy mares. The other Seattle Slew sons represented as broodmare sires among the Medaglia d'Oro stakes winners include Avenue of Flags, Capote, Doneraile Court, Fast Play, Vindication, and Williamstown. A.P. Indy's son Mineshaft  is the broodmare sire of grade 2 winner Enticed.

"It was one of the most enjoyable days of racing for our whole roster," said Fox, noting that Midshipman  is the sire of Mr Vargas, who won the Green Flash Handicap (G3T) at Del Mar, and the Animal Kingdom  daughter Oleksandra won the listed Smart N Fancy Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. "With a stallion like Medaglia d'Oro, the hard work has been put in and now we're reaping the rewards."