Golden Sabre sets track record at Woodbine
Five-year-old Medaglia d'Oro gelding Golden Sabre captured his first career Graded Stakes win with an impressive last-to-first victory in the G3 Durham Cup at Woodbine on October 3rd. Golden Sabre finally broke through in Graded Stakes company after consecutive hard-luck second place finishes in his two previous starts, the G2 Nijinsky Stakes and G2 Sky Classic Stakes, both at Woodbine.
In the mile-and-one-eighth race, Golden Sabre broke slowly and settled at the back of the pack early. He stayed at the rear down the backstretch before making an impressive five-wide move around the far turn to take the lead coming into the stretch. He kicked away in deep stretch to win by three lengths in a new track record time of 1:48.33.
Bred in Ontario by his owner Sam-Son Farm, Golden Sabre is out of the multiple Graded Stakes winning Smart Strike mare Strike Softly.
Golden Sabre became Medaglia d’Oro’s 12th Graded Stakes winner of the year. He is tied with Tapit at 21 black-type winners in 2015, which include G1 Del Mar Debutante and G1 Chandelier Stakes winner Songbird, G1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap winner Mshawish, and G2 winners Gold Medal Dancer, Sentiero Italia, and Mrs. McDougal. The sire's top runners lifetime include Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra, G1 Kentucky Oaks winner Plum Pretty, and G1-winning turf specialist Marketing Mix.