Berkeley, Calif. (June 7, 2020)-4-year-old chestnut filly Sloane Garden scored a last-to-first victory in her stake debut at Golden Gate Fields on Sunday, the $75,000 Golden Poppy Stakes for filly and mare routers on turf. The daughter of British sire Ifraaj sat at the back of the field off a moderate pace before charging home in the final quarter mile and swooping past even money runner up Meal Ticket, 7-1 third place finisher Wicked Old Fashion and everybody else. Morning Cynn, Boundforjamaica and Blue Diva completed the order of finish.
“[Trainer] Manny [Badilla] and I chatted before the race and he said to sit off and make one-run,” said winning jockey Kyle Frey. “Down the backside, even though we were last and the fillies in front weren’t going very fast, I said to myself, ‘I’m liking this.’ [Sloane Garden] was traveling great. I wanted to save ground on the turns and we were able to do that and turning for home I swung outside and let her loose. She’s an improving filly and she’s doing really well right now. She ran great.”
Sloane Garden finished up the mile and a sixteenth grass route in 1:43.39. Purchased by owners Ron Charles and Samuel Gordon for $33,642 at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses of Racing Age sale in 2019, Sloane Garden has recorded 3 wins and 1 second from 5 starts in North America since moving to the barn of Manny Badilla from the yard of James Tate in Europe. The chestnut filly sports a lifetime record of 3 wins, 2 seconds and 3 thirds from 9 career starts, with career earnings of $91,857.
Off at odds of 7-2, Sloane Garden paid $9.20 to win, $3.80 to place and $2.80 to show. Meal Ticket paid $2.80 to place and $2.20 to show while Wicked Old Fashion paid $3.00 to show.
Live racing resumes at Golden Gate Fields on Thursday with a 9-race program. First post is 12:45 PM. Closing Day of the Winter/Spring meet at Golden Gate goes on Sunday and features the marquee race of the meeting, the $250,000 Grade 3 San Francisco Mile for 3-year-olds and upward routing one mile on the turf. On Saturday afternoon, the San Francisco Mile nominations list was released and featured 27 horses.
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