Moonlight d’Oro sweeps to Las Virgenes S. (G2) victory

Moonlight d’Oro took her first step on the road to the Kentucky Oaks (G1) with a convincing win in Saturday’s $200,000 Las Virgenes S. (G2) at Santa Anita Park.

Owned by MyRacehorse Stable and Spendthrift Farm, Moonlight d’Oro was making her first stakes start since breaking her maiden on Dec. 13. She is now 2-1-1 in four outings and has earned $163,040.

Moonlight d’Oro, under Flavien Prat, settled at the back of the five-horse field of 3-year-old fillies as they made their way around the first turn. Still last after a half-mile in :47.47, Moonlight d’Oro began to make up ground with three furlongs to run. She came three-wide into the stretch and ran by the pacesetter Kalypso, drawing off to win by nearly two lengths in 1:38.01 for the mile on a fast track.

“Rosario was at the front (aboard Kalypso) and nobody was really bothering him, but when I came around the turn, I made that great move and tried to get some momentum out of it,” Prat said. “She was traveling nicely behind horses, and I was very happy with how she ran.”

Saturday’s win earned Moonlight d’Oro 10 qualifying points towards the Kentucky Oaks, which runs on April 30^th.

Bred in Kentucky by Stonehaven Steadings, Moonlight d’Oro was a $620,000 purchase by Spendthrift at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. She is out of Venetian Sonata, whose sibling include graded stakes winners Wilburn and Beethoven.