Santa Anita: Champagne d’Oro gets final shots

Champagne d’Oro will be retired in January and will have one or two more races before she is sent to Kentucky to be bred to Bernardini, trainer Eric Guillot said Monday.

She will start in Monday’s $100,000 Monrovia Stakes over about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course, which could lead to a start in the $300,000 Santa Monica Stakes over seven furlongs on the main track on Jan. 28.

“If she runs big, I’ll run her back in the Santa Monica,” Guillot said. “If she doesn’t run good, she’ll go to the shed. I’ve got a contract with Bernardini.”

Owned by Southern Equine Stable, Champagne d’Oro has won 3 of 22 starts and $614,690. She won two Grade 1 races at 3 in 2010 – the Acorn Stakes at Belmont Park and the Test Stakes at Saratoga. This year, Champagne d’Oro is winless in seven starts.

“She’s done enough,” Guillot said of her career. “It’s hard to give up. She’s sound, but she’s lost a step.”