Gary Barber became the first owner to win the $100,000
Generous Stakes for a second time when Stoney Fleece posted an 8-1 upset in the
Grade III.
Barber, who owned 2010 winner Comma to the Top in
partnership with Roger Birnbaum and Kevin Tsujihara, owns Stoney Fleece in
partnership with his brother Cecil. Trainer John Sadler claimed the 2-year-old
son of Decarchy for $40,000 for the pair out of a debut maiden victory, in
which he overcame much adversity, July 28 at Del Mar.
The California bred has gone 3-for-5 since the purchase and
picked up his most significant win Sunday.
Taking advantage of a very quick and contested pace, Stoney
Fleece overtook 5-2 second choice Handsome Mike, who disposed of his early pace
rivals to get clear in the stretch, in the final sixteenth of a mile.
The 1 ¼ length win enabled him to remain perfect on grass.
Out of the Deputed Testamony mare Gold Fleece, Stoney Fleece had won an
allowance Oct. 15 at Santa Anita in his first turf appearance.
Completing the mile in 1:34.77 after opening fractions of
22.45, 45.12 and 1:09.50, Stoney Fleece increased his earnings to $156,680. He
has banked $136,080 since being claimed.
Providing leading jockey Joel Rosario with a meet high third
stakes win, Stoney Fleece paid $19.60, $6 and $3.20. Handsome Mike returned
$4.40 and $2.80. Battle Force, the even-money favorite, paid $2.60 to show. He
finished a half-length behind Handsome Mike.
“His mother was very good on grass, so I have some
familiarity with the family,’’ said
Sadler, who became the fifth trainer to win the Generous twice, joining Jerry
Fanning, Ron McAnally, Todd Pletcher and Mel Stute. Sadler’s other victory came
in a division in 2006 with Warning Zone.
“I really claimed him for grass and he’s two-for-two on
turf. He’s a nice, hard knocking horse. He’s never run a bad race. I wasn’t
surprised he was in for a tag because he’s so small. I’d like to keep him on
turf, but I won’t rule out some of the California
bred stakes coming up.’’
When racing resumes Thursday – post time 12:30 p.m. – there
will be a Super High 5 carryover of $32,157. The Super High 5 is offered in the
day’s final race and is a 50 cent minimum wager.