Goin' Good Captures First Stakes in Coronation Cup

Klein Racing homebred Goin' Good  had no problem moving off the turf to the sloppy main track at Saratoga Race Course July 18. After rain continued to fall throughout the day, the 3-year-old Congrats   filly splashed home to take the $111,600 Coronation Cup for her first stakes win.

Goin' Good had experience on her side when the 5 1/2-furlong Coronation Cup came off the turf. In February at Oaklawn Park, she finished second when racing over a sloppy track in the Dixie Belle Stakes. 

"I was OK with it coming off. A shorter field, from a trainer's standpoint, is always nice. She (can) break and after a couple of strides, she puts herself back in the race," said trainer Brad Cox. "I always thought she was a filly who could handle three-quarters on the dirt or the mud. I wouldn't be opposed to trying her on the dry dirt. She's not a blazing-fast filly. If you can knuckle down on her, she'll keep herself in position. She's really steady and has a lot of try about her and a lot of determination and heart."

In a field scratched down to four, Goin' Good raced in second early under Tyler Gaffalione, a half-length off pacesetter and 4-5 favorite, Mischieful. Fractions went in :21.97 and :45.43 for the first half-mile before Goin' Good stuck her head in front. Farsighted  had raced in third and put her own bid in down the stretch, but Goin' Good repelled that challenger to win by a half-length in a final time of 1:05.26.

"She's always had a lot of class to her. You can see on her form that she's run some big races against some quality fillies. But today, it was a different surface and a different aspect," said Gafalione. "She showed some more speed today, but she put me right where I needed to be and she finished the job. 

"She has a tendency not to break so well, so I gave her a good warm up. Brad said to just get her out of the gate and in a good spot. She doesn't have the biggest turn of foot, especially on the dirt, so I just didn't want to leave too much distance between us. My filly was getting tired and I had to use her to stay in my position but I was just hoping that her class would prevail and it did."

The winner paid $5.40 as the 8-5 second choice. She has four wins and two seconds from seven starts and earnings of $224,566.

Farsighted finished second 2 1/2 lengths ahead of Mischieful, who was 1 3/4 lengths in front of Shop Girl . 

"I thought Tyler did a fantastic job of breaking well; she doesn't always break well," Cox said. "He kept her in contact with the filly on the lead (Mischieful) and not letting her get away. I think it played a big role in us being able to pass that filly in the lane."

Goin' Good is the second foal and winner out of Good Deed , a multiple stakes-winning Klein homebred by Broken Vow. Good Deed is also dam of a yearling Blame   filly named Free Will and a Constitution   colt born April 19. Goin' Good's second dam is the Kleins' grade 3 winner Hidden Assets , dam of five black-type winners including grade 3 winner Cash Control  and Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) second Country Day .

Video: Coronation Cup S. (BT)