Saratoga Maidens, presented by Keeneland: Fille d’Oro Launches Career with Solid Spa MSW Turf Score

[Wandering Eyes]

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Though he was well aware of her pedigree, trainer Brad Cox said he didn't need a piece of paper to help him forecast Fille d'Oro's (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) future.

“She didn't show us much on the dirt at Keeneland when she came in,” Cox said. “She struggled a little bit on the dirt. We transferred her over to the synthetic and she really improved. Then we breezed her up here on the turf last week and she was really nice, a really good move.”

In her debut Friday at Saratoga Race Course, Gregory Hoffman's filly competed like she trained. In a stalk-and-pounce performance, she won the sixth race, a $100,000 maiden special weight for 2-year-old fillies, by a 11/2 lengths over Celebrity Warrior (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}). Under jockey Manny Franco, Fille d'Oro completed the 1 1/16 miles over the inner turf course in 1:42.48 and paid $13.80.

“She stepped up big-time today,” Cox said.

Cox said that Clay Scherer purchased Fille d'Oro at the 2024 Arqana Deauville August sale.

“Obviously, she's got a nice pedigree,” Cox said. “She's a Juddmonte family. Mandaloun (Into Mischief) is in there. That was something that, I think, caught Clay's eye at the sale as a yearling. When he bought her, he immediately sent her pedigree and I thought, 'Well, that's kind of cool.'”

Cox said he believe Fille d'Oro is the first horse by Wootton Bassett he has handled in his career.

Fille d'Oro spent most of the past two months at Turfway Park in Kentucky prepping for her first start. The pivotal breeze at Saratoga took place on Aug. 15 when she covered a half-mile on the turf course on the Oklahoma training track. She was caught in :50.41, the 41st of the 57 times that morning.

“It was like, 'We probably better enter her off that work,'” Cox said. “She had a couple gate works. We knew she was quick enough out of the gate, and Manny did a great job of getting her to settle going into the first turn, and saving ground. He could easily have been caught three-wide going into that first turn. He gave her a good, smart ride.”

Leaving from Post 7 in the field of eight, Franco soon had Fille d'Oro near the hedge, where she sat until the eighth pole. They followed Celebrity Warrior as she made her move to overtake pacesetter Curly Q Girl, snatched the lead by the sixteenth pole and faced no challenges in the final 100 yards.

Fille d'Oro is likely headed to a stakes test in her next outing, Cox said, possibly the $400,000 GII Jessamine Stakes Oct. 3 at Keeneland.

Fille d'Oro has proven to be a good communicator. After telling Cox that, for sure, she wasn't a dirt horse, she signalled that she was ready for the big stage at Saratoga with her breeze.

“I expected a nice effort,” Cox said. “That still doesn't mean you're going to win, but I expected her to run well and she did. We didn't have to win for her to run well, but I expected her to step up and run big today.”

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