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​​Goin’ Good strong to the wire in $120K Coronation Cup

by Keith McCalmont

Klein Racing homebred Goin’ Good secured her first stakes win with a strong stretch drive under Tyler Gaffalione in Sunday’s 10th renewal of the $120,000 Coronation Cup, a 5 1/2-furlong off-the-turf sprint for sophomore fillies at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by Brad Cox, the Congrats bay, out of the graded-stakes placed Broken Vow mare Good Deed, entered off a one-length score in a 5 1/2-furlong turf allowance sprint on June 12 at Churchill Downs. 

Goin’ Good established an outside pace-pressing position in second as Mischiefful, with Jose Lezcano up, surged to the front from the inside post through an opening quarter mile in 21.97 seconds on the sloppy and sealed main track.

Mischiefful maintained a precarious lead through the turn with the half-mile ticking by in 45.43, as Goin' Good ramped up the pressure to her outside, while Farsighted launched her bid inside the pacesetters from third. 

Goin' Good, under encouragement from Gaffalione, put away Mischiefful inside the eighth-pole, staving off the determined Farsighted for a half-length score in a final time of 1:05.26. 

Farsighted completed the exacta by 2 1/2-lengths over Mischiefful, with Shop Girl completing the compact field. Star Devine, Honey Pants, Bye Bye, What a Trick, Wink and Illegal Smile were scratched in a race originally scheduled for the Mellon turf course.

Cox was full of praise for the aggressive steer by Gaffalione.

“I thought Tyler did a fantastic job of breaking well; she doesn’t always break well,” Cox said. “He kept her in contact with the filly on the lead and not letting her get away. I think it played a big role in us being able to pass that filly in the lane.

“I always thought she was a filly who could handle three-quarters on the dirt or the mud,” Cox added. “I wouldn’t be opposed to trying her on the dry dirt. She’s not a blazing-fast filly. If you can knuckle down on her, she’ll keep herself in position. She’s really steady and has a lot of try about her and a lot of determination and heart.”

The victory marked the second Coronation Cup victory for Cox and Klein Racing, who teamed up to win the 2019 renewal with homebred Break Even.

Gaffalione, who secured his first stakes win of the summer meet, said he was intent on leaving the gate quickly.

“She has a tendency not to break so well, so I gave her a good warm up,” Gaffalione said. “Brad said to just get her out of the gate and in a good spot. She doesn’t have the biggest turn-of-foot, especially on the dirt, so I just didn’t want to leave too much distance between us. My filly was getting tired and I had to use her to stay in my position but I was just hoping that her class would prevail and it did.”

Goin’ Good finished second in both the Dixie Belle at Oaklawn Park in February and the Limestone Turf Sprint in April at Keeneland to launch her sophomore campaign. She entered her allowance win from a troubled fifth in the Mamzelle in May at Churchill.

Bred in Kentucky by her owners, Goin’ Good banked $66,000 in victory while improving her record to 7-4-2-0. Sent to post as the 8-5 second choice, she returned $5.40 for a $2 win wager.

Live racing resumes Wednesday at Saratoga with a 10-race card highlighted by the $100,000 Rick Violette, a six-furlong sprint for New York-bred juveniles. First post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern.