When his two-year-old daughter Renda (now dam of G1 winner Rockwall) won a Listed Stakes at Monmouth on August 23rd, 2008, none could have possibly foreseen the impact that her sire, Medaglia d’Oro, would have on the worldwide racing and breeding scene. Fast forward 3,377 days and another daughter, Ever So Clever, became her sire’s 100th career Stakes winner from around the world when winning the G3 Fantasy Stakes. In addition, with that victory in the Fantasy Stakes, Ever So Clever became the 50th Group/Graded winner for the stallion.
Along with Renda, Medaglia d’Oro was also represented in that first crop by the phenomenal Rachel Alexandra (Stakes winner number four) who was named North America’s Horse of the Year (the only three-year-old filly every to receive the award) following a hall of fame three-year-old season in 2009. She, too, was a two-year-old Stakes winner in 2008 but it was her undefeated sophomore year that distinguished her among the best fillies to ever race, a year that saw her score such brilliant wins as:
G1 Churchill Downs Kentucky Oaks
Won by 20 ¼ lengths, largest winning margin of the race
G1 Pimlico Preakness S.
First filly to win the second leg of North America’s Triple Crown since 1924
G1 Belmont Mother Goose S.
Won by 19 ¼ lengths, largest winning margin of the race, setting a Stakes record
G1 Monmouth Haskell Invitational S.
Registered a 116 Beyer Speed Figure, highest of 2009 for any horse, and only
second filly to win the race
G1 Saratoga Woodward S.
Only filly to win the race and first 3-year-old filly to win a GI route dirt race against
older males in New York in over 100 years
Her legacy continues on through her daughter Rachel’s Valentina (by Bernardini) won the G1 Spinaway and is now retired and part of the broodmare band at Stonestreet Farm.
Forty-eight other G1 winners have crossed finish lines around the globe, including such Australian successes as undefeated Australian champion Vancouver (Stakes winner number 60), now standing at stud in the U.S., and Godolphin’s standout, Astern (Stakes winner number 86 and winner of the Golden Rose).
Stakes winner number 12 was Medaglia d’Oro’s first outside of North America, the colt Passion For Gold who won the G1 Criterium de Saint Cloud. His second overseas Stakes winner was South African standout Mina Salaam (number 23 on the list), followed by Japanese G3 winner A Shin Memphis (number 35), with North American multiple G1 winner Mshawish (Stakes winner number 45) representing Medaglia d’oro in France early in his career where he won his first Stakes event.
