Following her late closing, third-place finish in the G2 Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland in early October, Medaglia d’Oro’s two-year-old filly, Ingrassia, found the winners’ circle this time in the mile-and-a-sixteenth Chelsey Flower Stakes at Belmont Park November 1st.
Sent sharply from the gate, Ingrassia eventually settled out behind the leaders in fourth on the yielding turf track. Kept in hand through traffic along the turn, jockey Jose Ortiz waited to ask more from the filly until the top of the stretch. Finding her path after maneuvering back towards the rail, Ingrassia dug in to close strongly and put her nose in front of stablemate Fluffy Socks at the wire.
Bred in Kentucky by owner Don Alberto Corp, Ingrassia is out of the Black Type placed mare Infanta Branca. Campaigned primarily in Europe, Infanta Branca is out of the G3 winning mare Totemic and half-sister to the precocious G2 winner and G1 place Lil’s Lad, as well as the G3 winning mare Cherokee. Ingrassia is the first starter and winner for her dam.
Medaglia d’Oro’s other current juveniles include 10-length Saratoga debut winner and TDN Rising Star Cantata, a $950,000 yearling, and Ellis debut winner Navratilova. He is currently the number one yearling sire in North America by average with four million dollar-plus yearlings sold in 2020. No stallion can match his 20 million-dollar yearlings since 2016. With 75 worldwide Group or Graded winners – 25 G1 – Medaglia d’Oro’s success has continued this year with son Moretti, who won Saratoga’s Birdstone Stakes, making him the all-time leading sire of Black Type winners at Saratoga with 20. His G1 winner Higher Power is a contender for this year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic.
