Bar of Gold to try synthetic in Presque Isle Masters

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer John Kimmel scratched Bar of Gold out of her scheduled turf debut in last Friday’s $150,000 Yaddo for New York-bred fillies and mares after the ground came up yielding. On Monday, he worked her a sharp half-mile over the Oklahoma turf in 46.42 seconds.

“We didn’t want her to race over a yielding course in her first start on turf,” Kimmel said. “The turf was soft, so how do you get a barometer on whether she can handle it or not?”

Kimmel is now targeting the Grade 2 Presque Isle Masters on Sept. 19 for Bar of Gold. The $400,000 Masters is a 6 1/2-furlong sprint over Tapeta and will be Bar of Gold’s first start over a synthetic surface.

“She handles dirt. She seems to handle turf. She might be just right for the synthetic,” Kimmel said. “The timing of the race is okay. It’s a big purse, and it’s graded.”

Joel Rosario was aboard for Monday’s workout.

“It was an exceptionally good work, according to Joel,” Kimmel said. “She went a quarter basically in 24 and then came home in 22 and change and galloped out in 58 and change. He just kind of nudged her a little bit and then took a hold.”

Bar of Gold is a 4-year-old Medaglia d’Oro filly owned and bred by Chester and Mary Broman. She won the $200,000 Critical Eye Stakes for statebreds in May and last year finished second to Cavorting in both the Grade 1 Test and the Grade 2 Prioress. She also was second in the Grade 2 Raven Run at Keeneland.

Bar of Gold is coming off a last-place effort in the Grade 2 Honorable Miss. Kimmel said jockey Junior Alvarado had Bar of Gold closer to the pace than he wanted.

“She’s always been a late-closing sprinter,” he said. “I don’t know why she was sent from the gate and ended up on the pace four wide. I have a lot of confidence in this filly. I think she’s on the same level as the one-two fillies in the Ballerina, Haveyougoneaway and By the Moon, and I have a lot of respect for both of them.”