Toinette Earns Back-to-Back Stakes Wins in Goldikova

Ken Baca, Joseph Hudson, and Lynne Hudson's Toinette earned back-to-back stakes scores when she took the lead coming off the turn of the $200,351 Goldikova Stakes (G2T) Nov. 3 at Santa Anita Park to put away five rivals with a 2 1/4-length win.

The 4-year-old Scat Daddy filly won the Swingtime Stakes on the same turf course and one-mile distance four weeks earlier. Toinette now has a record of seven wins and a third on four tracks from 10 starts and has earnings of $488,720, with nearly half that amount earned this year.

The Goldikova is Toinette's highest achievement, and trainer Neil Drysdale is planning to aim even higher.

"She's had a late year," he said. "We discovered she had an infected tooth, and we had to remove it. Following that, we discovered she had another pocket of infection, and we had to treat that, so we had to take our time with her. She's come around very nicely, and, yes, we're hoping for big things from her next year." 

Toinette broke well and settled into second under jockey Flavien Prat as Streak of Luck set fractions of :22.97 and :46.66 through a half-mile. Toinette took over heading into the stretch and opened up as Simply Breathless made a bid but could not catch the 2-5 favorite.

"It didn't look like there was much speed in the race, so we didn't want to be too far behind," Prat said. "As you could see, she was very comfortable, and she won pretty easy today. I'm glad to hear she's going to run next year. I think she can be a grade 1 mare, no question. I've ridden her quite a bit, and she's faced some nice fillies. Neil has her in great shape now, and I'm looking forward to riding her in the future.

"She broke sharp, put herself in the race, and she is really easy to ride. She breezed well and gave me a really good kick turning for home."

Toinette paid $2.80, $2.40, and $2.10. Simply Breathless returned $3.60 and $2.60. Richmond Avenue got up for third, another 1 1/4 lengths back, and returned $3.40 to show.

Bred in Kentucky by J D Stuart, P C Bance, and A R Enterprises, Toinette is the first foal out of the Sunriver mare I Bet Toni Knows, whose daughter Bellamy Knows is also a winner in 2019.