Grand Sonata Finds Seam, Up in Time in Kitten's Joy

Whisper Hill Farm homebred Grand Sonata  found racing room when he needed it, surging through an opening in deep stretch to run down stablemate Royal Spirit  and win the $100,000 Kitten's Joy Stakes (G3T) by a neck Feb. 5 at Gulfstream Park.

Winner of the one-mile Dania Beach Stakes Jan. 1 at Gulfstream in his previous start, Grand Sonata ($13.60) completed the distance in 1:41.53 over a firm course after being blocked until midstretch. Hall of Fame Todd Pletcher trains the 1-2 finishers.

"I thought he was a little bit overlooked today," Pletcher said of the winner, who went off at odds of almost 6-1. "All his turf races have been good. He had a really tough trip at Aqueduct and didn't get the win but he's a really nice colt, very professional."

Grand Sonata is a son of Medaglia d'Oro out of the A. P. Indy mare A. P. Sonata , a half-sister to stakes winners Wilburn  , Beethoven , and La Appassionata . Grand Sonata is her dam's only living foal after her first, an unnamed full sister to Grand Sonata, died in 2019 at age 2.

Coinage , winner of the With Anticipation (G3T) last summer in his turf debut, was sent to the front by jockey Luis Saez and ran a quarter-mile in :24.03 and a half in :48.22 pressed by Royal Spirit on his right hip. Gaffalione had Grand Sonata settled in third along the rail, with 40-1 long shot Red Knobs  on his outside.

"We were concerned there wasn't much pace on paper and Coinage can be tough when he gets loose, so we wanted to be aware of that. The fractions were pretty modest. I thought both horses were in good spots and both finished up well," Pletcher said. "Actually I thought Royal Spirit might have it for a second, but this horse has a big turn of foot and Tyler knows that. Once he got him in the clear they finished in a rush."

Royal Spirit moved up to even terms with Coinage exiting the far turn with Gaffalione still looking for room in behind. A couple of openings closed quickly in the stretch before Grand Sonata was able to tip out around Royal Spirit and came with a dramatic late burst to get the edge.

"I had a ton of horse. I had to be patient to wait for a spot. A little crack opened and he hesitated just a little bit, but I had so much horse, he wound up getting through and finished the job nicely," Gaffalione said. 

Coinage stayed on for third, 1 1/4 lengths behind Royal Spirit, followed by Eldon's Prince , Red Danger , Speaking Scout , Father Glado , and Red Knobs.