The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

re: The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

Fire Slam — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:55:24 GMT

Think god he was saved from the barn of Dave Vance!

re: The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

bay latte — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:37:19 GMT

Coldfacts Perhaps some of my comments were misleading I will not claim that Medaglia was

# 1 at the track he did however have great speed soundness and longivity and true class and was one of the three nominated for the eclipse award only to loose the political battle to an very good race horse that turned out to be a fairly common sire . My point about Candy Ride, Budda, Volponi ,and Sarava is that they obviously ran their career race in defeating Medaglia however while doing so Medaglia pushed them to the point of no return. His record at Saratoga I beleive is quite significant in as much as he is the omly one to accomplish that feat in one hundred and thirty some years of Saratoga racing and there were grade 1 horse in those three races

re: The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

Coldfacts — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:12:34 GMT

You are correct. Many thanks for the correction.

re: The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

Port Stanley — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:36:15 GMT

Just an FYI for Coldfacts. Rachel Alexandra is from Medaglia d'Oro's first crop.

re: The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

Coldfacts — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 14:41:49 GMT

MEDAGLIA won all three races for a unique record. However, I do not understand the point you’re trying to make. Bernardini won two of the three pulling a bus and did not start in Whitney. I can list a number of unique records established by several thoroughbreds. In spite of these records, some were not number one on the track. Although MEDAGLIA is the only horse to win all three races, it did not make him number one on the track.

MEDAGLIA was good on the track but not great. He has produced a great filly from his second crop and deserves all the credits cited in Steve’s article. I am in no way trying to discredit his achievements but I just think to classify him as number one on the track is a bit of a stretch.

“As I recall Candy Ride never ran again after he met Medaglia in the Pacific Classic nor did Budda after he met Medaglia in the Wood and I do not recall that Sarava or Volponi ever won again after they met Medaglia “

Should I assume you are implying that all four horses cited in your quote above suffered irreparable damage after defeating Medaglia? Buddha (Unbridleds Song) got injured the week of the derby. A similar fate suffered by A.P. Indy and recently I Want Revenge. Candy Ride had soundness issues long before he meet Medaglia. Modern day thoroughbreds are very fragile and any race could be the last one they win irrespective of the competition.

re: The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

bay latte — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 03:37:13 GMT

coldfacts you seem to really know your facts quite well so you must know how many of the all time great horses have ran and either won or lost at the graveyard of champions . of all those greats how many if any are there that have won the Jim Dandy the Travers and the Whitney and who are they?

re: The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

bay latte — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:31:48 GMT

Darla you are perseptive and could be correct

re: The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

DARLA — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:23:02 GMT

WELL BAY LATTE....I'M GUESSING THAT YOU ARE THE ORIGINAL OWNERS/BREEDERS OF MEDAGLIA....CONSIDERING HIS MOM'S NAME IS CAPPACHINO BAY!!!! WOW!!! I HOPE MY GUESS IS RIGHT!!

re: The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

bay latte — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:26:52 GMT

For Darla if you can get my email address from the bloodhorse I will send you some pictures of Medaglia. For MLS his potential was realized early as he is the first in 30 years of breeding that the breeders neve gilded .for coldfacts.As I recall Candy Ride never ran again after he met Medaglia in the Pacific Classic nor did Budda after he met Medaglia in the Wood and I do not recall that Sarava or Volponi ever won again after they met Medaglia however Medaglia kept on running and winning now that is just puzzling there is a riddle here for all. break the code in the display name and you will know the writer of this message Bay

Latte

re: The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

Bonnie Rowntree — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:25:24 GMT

Great article about a very beautiful and deserving stallion. I love the part about his humble beginnings. We have a small farm in the middle of nowhere, with a small track and a couple of very good riders. Not a fancy facility, but excellent horseman who make all the difference. It's nice to see that some people can look beyond the fancy for the function.

Bonnie

re: The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

mary — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:04:11 GMT

When a stallion is referred to as a filly sire does that mean sire of good race fillies or good broodmares? If it means both then Medaglia d'Oro's fillies should be in high demand at the sales and his unraced ones will be sought after as broodmares.

What other stallions would fall into this category? Secretariat, Sir Ivor...

re: The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

Soldier Course — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:56:21 GMT

Zookeeper:

It's impossible to describe the beauty of Lexington. For those of us who love Thoroughbreds, its restorative powers are a wonder. Everything leaves its mark - from the magnificence of Keeneland and the farms to the mundane joys of Ale-8-One, the local gingerale.

re: The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

Coldfacts — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:58:31 GMT

Steve you have my sincere apology. I was in no way implying that Medaglia D’oro is not a deserving candidate for your article because he does not compare with Birdstone. I clearly need to improve my writing skills. I was actually implying that what appears to be the emergence of a classic winning dynasty has gone unnoticed. Derby winner Unbridled, his son Grindstone, his grandson Birestone via Grindstone, his two great grandsons via Birdstone have won a leg of the TC. This is a history making occurrence. There is the possibility of that the sequence could be extended if Summer Bird makes it to the breeding shed. In my humble opinion this is the most significant occurrence over the TC series. There is no doubt that I am clearly ahead of myself to imply that you should favor one story over the other and for this you again have my sincere apology. NB: This is why I am flipping burgers.

Do you think Unbridled’s emerging classic winning dynasty & Birdstone achievement as a first crop sire merit one of your classic articles?

re: The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

Coldfacts — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:56:55 GMT

DARLA, IT APPEARS I HAVE OFFEDED YOU AND FOR THIS YOU HAVE MY SINCERE APOLOGY. YOU MUST REALIZE THAT YOUR ORIGINAL POST DID NOT SPECIFY THAT MEDAGLIA D’ORO WAS #1 IN YOUR BOOK. IF THAT WAS STATED IN YOUR POST, I WOULD HAVE RECOGNIZED THAT IT WAS MORE OF AN EMOTIONAL ASSESSMENT THAN A FACTUAL ONE. MY RESPONSE WOULD HAVE BEEN TOTALLY DIFFERENT AS I WOULD RESPECT YOUR RIGHT TO AN EMOTIONALLY DRIVEN ASSESSMENT OF THE ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE THOROUGHBREDS. I WAS OF THE OPINION THAT YOUR ASSESSMENT WAS BASED ON HIS RECORD. LET ME BE CLEAR, MEDAGLIA D’ORO WAS A TOP CLASS PERFORMER WHO WON HIS FAIR SHARE OF G1 RACES. HOWEVER, HIS RECORD REFLECTS THAT HE WAS BEATEN IN THE MAJORITY OF THE REALY BIG RACES. CONSEQUENTLY, I DO NOT CONCUR THAT HE WAS #1 ON THE TRACK. I BASED MY CONCLUSION NOT ON EMOTIONS BUT THE COLD FACTS CONTAINED IN HIS RECORD. I CAN IN NO WAY CHALLENGE HIS CLASSIFICATION IN YOUR BOOK.

ON THE SUBJECT OF LESSER HORSES, I PROBABLY SHOULD NOT HAVE USED THAT TERM AS LESSER FANCIED HORSES WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE APPROPRIATE. BUDDHA WAS VERY PROMISING BASED ON HIS ALLOWANCE WIN PRECEDING THE WOOD MEMORIAL. MEDAGLIA D’ORO WAS 2-1 IN THE BREEDERS CUP CLASSIC COMPARED TO THE LESSER FANCIED VALPONI WHO WAS 43-1. SARAVA, WAS 71-1 WHEN HE DEFEATED MEDAGLIA D’ORO IN THE BELMONT. THESE MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN LESSER HORSES BUT THEY WERE NOT AS ACCOMPLISHED AS MEDAGLIA D’ORO.

AS FOR YOUR NEGATIVE COMMENTS ABOU ME, I TAKE NO OFFENSE AS I THINK WERE ALL REACT TO PERCEIVED OFFENCE DIFFERENTLY. MY INTENTION WAS NEVER TO OFFEND. ONE LOVE!

re: The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

Zookeeper — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:20:58 GMT

Soldier Course,

Thank you so much for clearing that up.

How lucky you are to visit Lexington every year. I was there in 2005 and filled my eyes with the beauty and "greeness" of it all. My hope is to go back soon. There is so much to see and enjoy. So many beautiful farms and horses, so much history, so little time...

re: The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

Jenn — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:03:23 GMT

Great story and if there is one line I can completely agree with it's that people are captivated by his magnificent presence.

Hands down! I visited Darley for the first time last Friday (first time to Kentucky actually) from ON, Canada and WOW! I was so drawn to him and as I was standing in front of his gate with him leaning over it, I was overwhelmed with how big and THERE he is! Beautiful animal! Bernardini was next door to him, but I didn't care. I'll remember him most from that trip!!

Jenn

re: The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

Soldier Course — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:47:18 GMT

Zookeeper:

Thanks for checking the photograph in The Blood-Horse.

A "soldier course" is the top layer ("course") of a stone fence, with the stones stacked vertically. The term comes from the appearance of this row of upright stones, resembling soldiers on the march. In contrast, the lower courses of the stone fence are placed horizontally.

Can you see it right behind Medaglia d'Oro? The soldier course in the photograph looks like it's in good condition. Many stone fences in the Lexington area have lost all or part of the soldier course over time. Repair or replacement of stone fences is very expensive, and can cost several hundred dollars a cubic foot.

I learned about stone fences on farm tours during my annual visit to Lexington.

re: The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

longtimeracingfan — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:47:26 GMT

Steve, yet another great piece with interesting facts and wonderful word pictures of the individuals and events... and MOST timely, as Medaglia D'Oro is just starting his career... MORE!!! MORE!!!

Coldfacts, you are only partially correct when you state that Birdstone is the ONLY first crop stallion to sire winners of two legs of the Triple Crown. Yes, he sired two DIFFERENT winners of the two legs --- a wonderful achievement. BUT--- there was a horse named GALLANT FOX, foaled 1927, who won the Triple Crown in 1930 and then in his first crop foaled in 1932, sired a horse named OMAHA who --- you guessed it --- won the Triple Crown.

I think we may see some Medaglia D'Oro colts starting to show up in the spotlight before long, they may just take a bit longer to get to the races--- the horse himself did not start until December of his 2-year-old year. And he was around for a while, too. We need solid, tough, durable horses and he's certainly likely to sire a lot of those. I enjoyed watching him race and his babies are going to be fun to watch too.

RE: letting them grow up and be "just horses" seems to work for trainers like Michael Matz, too. And in England it's fun to watch the horses literally hack out through the towns to the gallops. They don't seem to need all the gimmicks on their bridles for control, either... they are well broken and they are mentally more relaxed.

re: The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

Matthew W — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:38:00 GMT

The story was about the INTERESTING road of Madaglia D' Oro, not about Birdstone! The story stands for itself--Steve you can write about a 2500k plater running at Portland Meadows---cuz there's a storybook story about many horses, great and small, it's always about the story---example: Jim Rome (on his radio show yesterday) talked about his maiden getting a tough beat on Saturday at Hollywood Park ...for one hour, and it was compelling BECAUSE of the storyteller---Steve, as the storyteller, you, and several fellow bloggers, tell the story of racing! No I did not know about Madaglia D' Oro, a magnificient runner and sire, I did not know he trained on a rail-less track in the desert....he went from maiden winner at Oaklawn to easy Gr II winner in San Felipe, and it started on an open spread of dirt in the desert! Thank you as always for your storytelling!

re: The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

Zookeeper — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:21:05 GMT

Soldier Course,

I went scrambling for my copy of TBH (May 23, 2009 page 1892) and I'm still scratching my head...What are you talking about?

re: The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

DARLA — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:04:32 GMT

THANK YOU STEVE!!!! POOR OLD COLDFACTS..HE THINKS HIS KNOWLEDGE IS SO WONDERFUL...HIS CUP IS SO FULL...HE WANTS EVERYONE TO THINK HE'S SO KNOWLEDGEABLE. HOWEVER PEOPLE LIKE YOU MAKE THE WORST TEACHERS. NOBODY WANTS TO LEARN FROM SOMEONE LIKE YOU. YOU NAMED YOURSELF CORRECTLY. YOU ARE VERY "COLD" WITH YOUR FACTS!! YOU CALL BUDDHA, SARAVA, AND VOLPONI LESSER HORSES....THEY WEREN'T LESSER HORSES ON THE DAY THEY WON THESE BIG RACES. THEY BECAME GRADE 1 WINNERS. YOU CAN'T TAKE THOSE COLDFACTS FROM THEM. I ONLY MEANT MDO WAS NO. 1 IN MY BOOK BECAUSE HE'S ONE OF MY FAVORITE HORSES.AND THAT'S THE FACTS!!!!

re: The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

Runfast159 — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:50:50 GMT

Coldfacts, I don't know if I would consider Birdstone part of a "dynasty". Yes, they won classic races and have produced classic winners, but a career surely should be graded on more than a brief period of time on the track. I loved Unbridled, but soundness in that line seems suspect to me. Grindstone raced 6 times, Birdstone 9 times. It makes me wonder why people want to go to those lines. It is too early to say if Birdstone's progeny will, over the course of their careers, be more or less durable than Medgalia d'Oro's. But if I had a mare and a choice between Birdstone and Medgalia, I know who I'd go with.

re: The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

Steve Haskin — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:17:31 GMT

coldfacts, you say Darla can't be serious with her comment. Surely, you are not serious with your comment. I wouldn't even attempt to respond to it. Please tell me you're joking so I can take you seriously in the future. And my comment to you has nothing to do with the merits of Birdstone and Medaglia d'Oro. It is your suggesting I should not write a story on a horse, because he supposedly doesn't measure up to another horse.

re: The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

Matthew W — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:11:54 GMT

Madaglia D' Oro was/is a top horse---Steve, the next guy you haveta talk about is the amazing Candy Ride, when you ask the question who's the best since 'Bid, ya gotta put this guy into the mix, his Pac Classic is the stuff of legends, he almost unseated Krone, then ran down Madaglia like he was nailed to the track! But, no doubt, Madaglia D' Oro has a leg up on him as a stallion right now...but there's a big future for them both---throw in Tiznow and Giants Causeway and ya gotta love those "Young Turks" of thoroughbred breeding-dom!

re: The Journey of Medaglia d'Oro

mz — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:54:37 GMT

FYI, Tasty Temptation, another 3yo Medaglia d'Oro filly, is reported to be entered in the Queens Plate this weekend after finishing 2nd in the Woodbine Oaks. I like her. She might be one of the favourites, running against Eye of the Leopard, who I also like.

I'm wondering if Medaglia d'Oro might be a filly sire, like Secretariat.