Stanford Sires First Winner at Golden Gate Fields
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Photo: Vassar Photography
Heaven Shines breaks his maiden at Golden Gate Fields
Heaven Shines became the first winner for freshman sire and multiple graded stakes winner Stanford when he won his debut May 7 at Golden Gate Fields.
The California-bred colt led wire to wire in the 4 1/2 furlong contest to score by 2 3/4 lengths under jockey Kyle Frey. Trained by Jonathan Wong, Heaven Shines stopped the timer in :53.44 over the Tapeta surface. He earned $23,400 for the victory.
He is the fifth foal out of the stakes-placed Speightstown mare Light Up the Sky, who has a weanling full sister to Heaven Shines named Della Luce.
Heaven Shines is owned and bred by Tommy Town Thoroughbreds in Santa Ynez, Calif., where Stanford stands for a fee of $5,000.
Stanford, a son of Malibu Moon, sold for $550,000 at the 2014 Barretts Equine March Selected Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale before being sent to trainer Todd Pletcher. A first-time out winner at Monmouth Park as a juvenile, Stanford captured the Long Branch Stakes at Monmouth as a 3-year-old and the Charles Town Classic Stakes (G2) and Harlan's Holiday Stakes (G3) as a 4-year-old. He added the Challenger Stakes to his résumé in his abbreviated 5-year-old campaign. Stanford retired with a 6-5-0 record from 17 starts and $1,385,510 in earnings.