Medaglia Gold earns shot at Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf

DEL MAR, Calif. – Medaglia Gold stretched out around two turns, added blinkers, and moved to turf for the third start of her career last Saturday, and her front-running, runaway victory against 2-year-old maiden fillies earned her a spot in the $100,000 Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf on Sept. 4, trainer Cliff Sise Jr. said.

Medaglia Gold ran sixth in her first start and seventh in her second start, both times sprinting on dirt at Santa Anita.

“I’ve always loved the filly,” Sise said. “The first time she ran, I thought she’d win by five. I was disappointed. Her second race was better but still disappointing. The way she trained, I figured maybe she wants to go a route of ground.”

On Saturday, “she took off, she rebroke again,” Sise said.

“The way she did it was very nice,” he said.

◗ Corey Nakatani was fined $200 for excessive use of the whip aboard My Italian Babbo in the California Dreamin’ Stakes on Saturday, a race My Italian Babbo won by a nose.