Fools Gold Proves to be the Real Deal in Waya
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Janet Garaguso
Fools Gold wins the Waya Stakes at Saratoga Race Course
Racing at 1 1/2 miles, be it on turf or dirt, is a rare event these days, so Wise Racing's Fools Gold could be excused for finishing second when she tackled 12 furlongs for the first time July 5 in the $100,000 River Memories Stakes at Belmont Park. After all, it was her first race beyond 1 1/16 miles.
But no excuse was needed the second time around.
Benefiting from that initial attempt, Fools Gold turned her second start at the distance on the turf into a winning one as she tracked the pace-setting Sky Full of Stars and then spurted clear at the top of the stretch to post a three-quarter-length victory Aug. 4 in the $200,000 Fasig-Tipton Waya Stakes (G3T) for fillies and mares at Saratoga Race Course. It was the first graded stakes triumph for owner Allen Wise.
"(The River Memories) was the final piece of work she needed to handle a mile and a half, especially at Saratoga," said trainer Chad Brown after his third win in the Waya.
The Waya also amounted to another step forward for the 4-year-old daughter of Medaglia d'Oro who has made steady improvement this year from the allowance ranks to stakes-placed to now a graded stakes winner.
"I'm so proud of the development she's made all season, and now she's a player in this division. I think it's her physical maturity," Brown said. "We gave her time. The owners are terrific like that. For Mr. Allen Wise and his sons, this is their first stakes win, and to have it at Saratoga and lead the horse in is so prestigious. I'm really happy for them."
Fools Gold ($8.40), the 3-1 second choice, covered the trip in 2:27.21 on firm turf under jockey Javier Castellano, who has won the Waya in three of the past four years.
"(Javier) timed it perfectly," Brown said.
Eleanor and Neil McIntyre's Get Explicit, the 23-1 outsider in a field of six, took second by a neck over R Unicorn Stable's Santa Monica, the 6-5 favorite who is trained by Brown and had to steady on the backstretch and then rallied in the six path. Franz Morsches' Gentle Ruler was another neck back in fourth.
"(Santa Monica) did not have a desirable trip, to say the least," Brown said.
The victory was the fourth in 12 starts for Fools Gold, who was bred in Kentucky by Regis Farms and has earned $271,020. Out of the Saint Liam mare Moment of Majesty, she was purchased by Wise for $425,000 from the Niall Brennan Stables consignment at the 2017 Ocala Breeders' Sales March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. Keat's Grove Farm initially bought her for $180,000 from the Hill 'n' Dale Sales Agency consignment in 2016 at The October Sale, Fasig-Tipton's Kentucky fall yearling sale.
The Waya is named for the champion mare who was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Aug. 2 and spent her final year of racing carrying the colors of Peter Brant, one of Brown's main owners.