Reid Has Right Stuff Again

When bloodstock agent Mark Reid--a former trainer--talks, Bobby Frankel listens.

Reid’s recommendations have been golden for Frankel, the hall of fame trainer on a seemingly endless roll, and owner Ed Gann.

The man who helped engineer the private purchases of You, a multiple-stakes winning 3-year-old filly, and Labamta Babe, who won the Santa Catalina in January before being injured, has found another gem.

Medaglia d’Oro, a 3-year-old son of El Prado, made quite a splash in his first race for Frankel and Gann.

Five weeks removed from a maiden victory at Oaklawn Park in his second career start, Medaglia d’Oro, an 8-1 shot, stunned U S S Tinosa, 2-5 favorite Siphonic and three others in the $250,000 San Felipe Stakes on Sunday at Santa Anita.

Ridden by Laffit Pincay Jr., Medaglia d’Oro made the lead immediately, dropped back a bit when challenged by U S S Tinosa and Siphonic, but took over again with about an eighth of a mile to run and drew off.

At the finish, he had 21/2 lengths on U S S Tinosa, the 3-1 second choice, and it was another 31/2 lengths back to Siphonic.

Once considered California’s best hope for the Kentucky Derby, Siphonic had the excuse of a bad start when a distant second in the Santa Catalina, but there were no visible alibi Sunday.

“I think he just got tired,” said trainer Dave Hofmans. “He was rubber-legged and just did not finish. We’ll scope him to see if anything went wrong and re-evaluate where we are going from here.”

Where Medaglia d’Oro is going is either Kentucky or New York. Not currently nominated to the Triple Crown races, the colt will be before the deadline at the end of the month and will likely make his next start in either the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct or the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland. Both races are April 13.

“Mr. Gann has said he wants to get to the Kentucky Derby,” said Frankel. “He keeps putting up the money and I keep training the horses.

“He’s a big, big horse and very easy to train. I told Laffit to try to make the lead, but don’t kill him while you’re doing it. He said when [Siphonic and U S S Tinosa] came to him around the turn, he backed off of him and then he finished well. I thought maybe Siphonic wasn’t 100% and it seemed he wasn’t.”

Making his first start of the year, Mayakovsky, the 7-10 favorite, won the $200,000 Gotham Stakes on Sunday at Aqueduct, beating 2-1 second choice Saarland by nearly four lengths despite drifting out badly nearing the wire.

A 3-year-old son of Matty G trained by Patrick Biancone for owner Michael Tabor, Mayakovsky completed the mile in 1:34 4/5 and will probably make his next start in the Wood Memorial. He was ridden by Edgar Prado.

Trainer Paul Aguirre was fined $1,500 by Santa Anita stewards Ingrid Fermin, Pete Pedersen and Tom Ward for violation of a California Horse Racing Board rule prohibiting trainers from betting on a horse they are competing against.

According to Pedersen, Aguirre cashed for consolations on a pick six ticket on Feb. 23 that included Skywriting, the winner of the seventh race that day, but not Courtesan, a mare he trains who finished ninth at 11-1.