Stoney Fleece Pulls Upset in Generous
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.