Steve Landers Racing's Destino d'Oro continues to thrive in Florida, rallying off her third straight victory in the Sunshine State with a triumph in the $200,000 Hillsborough Stakes (G2T) at Tampa Bay Downs. However, the March 7 victory was anything but easy.
That was not to discount the performance put on by the improving Bolt d'Oro filly, but an assessment given based on the near-disastrous trip the 4-year-old overcame. Racing midpack through much of the 1 1/8-mile journey behind fractions of :23.98 and :49.90, jockey Junior Alvarado had to check sharply on the far turn as longshot Aunt Mo was slowing in her path and Scythian blocked a lane to the clear.
Yet, the tenacious filly regrouped and began gaining momentum from last. Picking up steam on the far outside, she rolled down to hook favored Whiskey Decision, who got the rail trip throughout, and pushed forward to win by a nose. Proctor Street finished third.
Traveling over good turf, Destino d'Oro stopped the clock in 1:52.18 and paid $8 to win.
Destino d'Oro's victory was a third in graded company overall for trainer Brad Cox and a third stakes win in a row, building off her career-best performance Jan. 24 in the Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational Stakes (G2T) at Gulfstream Park. The win streak follows a pair of lackluster efforts in Kentucky in the fall, which a two-month layoff mixed with a little Florida sunshine appears to have cured.
Bred in Kentucky by Hurstland Farm and James Greene Jr., Destino d'Oro was purchased Cary Bloodstock, as agent for Steve Landers Racing, for $185,000 from the CM Thoroughbreds consignment at the 2024 Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. With a career record of 6-0-1 from nine starts, she has now earned $949,884.
Destino d'Oro is out of the grade 1-placed Lion Heart mare Heart of Destiny. She gave sire Bolt d'Oro, who stands at Spendthrift Farm for $25,000 in 2026, his second graded triumph of the year.
