Saffron Moon surges to Hillsborough Stakes victory

OLDSMAR, Fla. - If Saffron Moon can stay healthy in this, her 6-year-old year, she could be a major player in the female turf division in 2025.

Backing up her course-record performance in the Grade 3 Endeavour Stakes here last month, Saffron Moon found a huge opening in upper stretch and powered home a three-quarter-length winner over the previously undefeated South African-bred mare Gimme a Nother in the Grade 2, $200,000 Hillsborough Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on Saturday.

It was 2 1/4 lengths back to Venencia in third. Chad Brown trained the winner, the third-place finisher and sixth-place finisher Spaliday as he won his record-extending seventh Hillsborough.

Saffron Moon, a 6-year-old daughter of Malibu Moon, won for the fifth time in 11 starts. It was only her third race since November 2023, having been forced to miss time for multiple relatively minor issues.

“The thing about it which gives me a lot of confidence that the ceiling’s unlimited is that she’s always trained like a good horse,” Brown said. “She may not have run much from 2 to 5, but it wasn’t because we were waiting for her to come around, it’s because she was on the sidelines all the time. But when she was in the barn, she was always impressive in the morning. So I’m so proud of the horse, I’m thrilled for the owners.”

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Saffron Moon is owned by Phil and Christine Hatfield.

Saffron Moon was the recipient of a solid ride by Flavien Prat, who was able to maneuver the mare from post 7 into the two path and to third place by the first turn, just behind Avenue Niel and Damaso, who set a relatively soft pace of 48.25 seconds for the half-mile.

Joel Rosario, aboard Eternal Silence, made an aggressive move to the lead midway down the backstretch that picked up the tempo of the race and spread the field out.

Turning into the stretch, Prat found a large opening for Saffron Moon to go through, and the mare responded with a strong kick. She was followed home by Gimme a Nother, who was making her first start in the U.S. and first since last April.

“I wanted to be close, but it seemed like everybody wants to be close, too,” Prat said. “I got myself into a good spot going into the first turn. The race developed a little bit down the backside, it took me a little while to get a gap, but once she got a gap she jumped well.”

Saffon Moon covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.58 and returned $4.20 as the favorite.

Irad Ortiz Jr. told Graham Motion that Gimme a Nother took awhile to get going, but overall said he was pleased with the performance the South African-bred mare gave in her North American debut. Motion also believes Gimme a Nother may want more distance.

“He said he had to wait because he was going to get fanned so wide on the last turn, and then it took her awhile to get going,” Motion said. “He was very pleased with her, he said what I said, she might want to go a little farther.

“She hasn’t run since April. It does make a difference,” Motion added “She was a little surprised by everything, she was a little spooked about things. It’s all new to her.”

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