NEWS
Medaglia d’Oro to shuttle to Australia
Posted: Sunday, March 07, 2010 3:19 PM
by Mike Curry
Multiple Grade 1 winner Medaglia d’Oro, sire of 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra, will shuttle to Australia for the '10 Southern Hemisphere breeding season.
The 2009 leading second-crop sire currently stands at Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum’s Darley in Lexington for an advertised fee of $100,000. The 11-year-old by El Prado (Ire) will join the Darley Australia roster along with multiple Group 1-placed group stakes winner Von Costa De Hero, by Encosta de Lago.
Sheikh Mohammed purchased Medaglia d’Oro in June 2009.
“We are delighted that Sheikh Mohammed has decided to bring Medaglia d’Oro to Australia,” said Henry Plumptre, Darley Australia’s managing director. “Both Medaglia d’Oro and Von Costa De Hero are two exceptional Thoroughbreds, and we’re looking forward to offering them to our clients this season.”
After winning a Grade 1 race every year from 2002 through ’04 and amassing $5,754,720 in purse earnings, Medaglia d’Oro has been a hit at stud as well. From two crops age three and older, Medaglia d’Oro is the sire of 86 winners from 165 starters that have earned $9,985,869 through March 6. He has sired 6% stakes winners from his first two crops.
His six group or graded stakes winners include Rachel Alexandra, who was unbeaten in eight starts last season with victories against males in the BlackBerry Preakness Stakes (G1), Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1), and Woodward Stakes (G1). Her Horse of the Year campaign also included record-setting victories in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Mother Goose Stakes (G1).
Medaglia d’Oro is out of the stakes-winning Bailjumper mare Cappucino Bay. He also is the sire of French Group 1 winner Passion for Gold, multiple Grade 1 winner Gabby’s Golden Gal, and graded stakes winners Payton d’Oro, C. S. Silk, and Al Khali.
“Medaglia d'Oro is, quite simply, one of the best and most exciting stallions in the world, and we are very lucky to see his like here in Australia,” Plumptre said. “His progeny excel on all surfaces, and he gets both extreme quality and quality in quantity—those are the rarest of attributes for a stallion.”
Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor
