Natural Colour eyes Swingtime Stakes after Golden Gate Distaff Turf triumph

Natural Colour is likely to start in the $80,000 Swingtime Stakes at Santa Anita on Oct. 8 after winning her second consecutive stakes in Saturday’s $52,250 Golden Gate Distaff Turf at Golden Gate Fields.

Benefiting from a perfect trip in the 1 1/16-mile race, Natural Colour ($3.80) stalked pacesetter Northwest Factor to early stretch and held off a late threat from 2-1 Charges Dropped to win by three-quarters of a length.

Ridden by Pedro Terrero, Natural Colour was timed in 1:44.47 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 88, which equals her career-best.

Northwest Factor (22-1) finished third by 4 1/4 lengths after setting a slow pace of 24.18 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 49.01 for a half-mile. Natural Colour and Northwest Factor are trained by Manny Badilla.

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Tiz an Edventure finished fourth, followed by Strike At Dawn, Sassyserb, Misty Cat, Tam’s Little Angel and Ellamira.

Natural Colour won the $76,350 Luther Burbank Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Santa Rosa on Aug. 6 for the first stakes win of her career. A 4-year-old British-bred filly by the Danehill stallion Exceed and Excel, Natural Colour has won 4 of 5 starts and earned $115,250 since being purchased for approximately $21,000 at auction in England in February.

“She’s gotten better and better,” co-owner Ron Charles said on Sunday. “Obviously, we didn’t expect her to get this good.”

Co-owned by Samuel Gordon, Natural Colour will be considered for the Swingtime Stakes, which is restricted to fillies and mares who have not won a first-place purse of $60,000 or more to the winner in a stakes at a mile or more this year.

Natural Colour finished a troubled fifth in the Possibly Perfect Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Santa Anita in June in her only loss this year and lone start away from Northern California since arriving from England.

Natural Colour has won 5 of 14 starts and $129,105 in the entirety of her career. She was owned by Godolphin Racing and trained by Saeed bin Suroor in England. Her lone win in that country was a one-mile allowance race on turf that featured retired jockeys at Doncaster last September.