Valid impresses in G3 Philip H. Iselin

Five-year-old Medaglia d'Oro gelding Valid captured his third career Graded Stakes race with an impressive score in the G3 Philip H. Iselin Stakes at Monmouth Park on August 30th.  He was a previous winner of the G3 Fred W. Hooper Stakes at Gulfstream Park in February of this year, as well as the G2 Monmouth Cup Stakes at Monmouth in 2014.

In the mile-and-one-eighth race, Valid broke alertly and sat in second around the first turn before going up and dueling for the lead down the backstretch.  He put his head in front at the half-mile pole, began to pull away around the turn, and opened up through the stretch to win easily by three and a half lengths.

Bred by Edward P. Evans, Valid was a $500,000 Keeneland September yearling.  He is a half-brother to G1 winner Malibu Prayer and is out of Stakes winner Grand Prayer.

Medaglia d'Oro is having a stellar year in 2015, leading all sires with 19 black-type winners this year including 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.