"...In 1:07 and four?!" the announcer said in slight disbelief after the fifth race at Belmont on June 10th. Medaglia d'Oro's three-year-old daughter Kareena had just come within one fifth second of Belmont's track record for six furlongs when winning the Listed Jersey Girl Stakes in her Stakes debut.
Kareena broke very comfortably at the start of the race and settled nicely into third as the field travelled down the backstretch. With a little urging from jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., approaching the turn, the sophomore filly began to close the gap between her and the leaders and steadily wore down those two and pulled away in the stretch. Her margin of victory was six and one-quarter lengths at the wire.
Bred in Kentucky by Summer Wind Farm, the filly was purchased as a yearling by John Ferguson on the behalf of Sheikh Mohammed at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale in 2014 and races in the blue silks of Godolphin. She is out of India, a G2 winner of over $600,000, and a half-sister to the dam of Bernardini's multiple G1-winning son To Honor And Serve and G1-winning daughter Angela Renee, as well as Stakes winner and G1-placed Elnaawi (by Street Sense).
Medaglia d'Oro is experiencing yet another outstanding year in 2016 with a total of 10 Blacktype winners after Kareena's impressive win. Eclipse Award winner Songbird added to her growing total of G1 wins with a victory in the G1 Santa Anita Oaks this year, while son Mshawish served to further illustrate his sire's versatility when annexing the G1 Donn Handicap on the dirt (over Medaglia d'Oro's G2-winning son Valid) after winning the G1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap last year. His worldwide influence is exemplified by the likes of Vancouver, a G1 winner in Australia last year, in addition to five additional Group winners in Australia in 2016.
