Golden Tale Bounces Back

Good to see that I can still jinx a race!

The gauntlet was flung down in the first steps of last Saturday’s GIII Jockey Guild Stakes: the gates swung open and four fillies bolted to the lead.  Moon Queen(SAF) maintained a narrow lead over Little Ghost, K’s Stand Tall, and Golden Tale, with favored Baldo Hollandia stalking in fifth., but the fractions were sizzling and no one was giving up.

Golden Tale made her move around the turn, getting first jump on the rest as Moon Queen and Little Ghost began to falter, and though K’s Stand Tall made a game bid and once grabbed a narrow lead, Golden Tale prevailed under a strong ride from A. Ching and hit the wire a length in front of late-flying Soultrapper(Ire).  K’s Stand Tall hung on for third, with the favorite in fourth and Papua Theft picking up the pieces for the last small check.

Golden Tale is a Tale of the Cat daughter out of a GII-placed Coronado’s Quest horse.  The Jockey Guild is her fourth win in nine career starts and pushes her career earnings over $225,000 and her classic division rank to thirty-first.  She covered the mile and one-sixteenth in 1:42 and 4/5 for a career-high 99 speed rating.