Destino d'Oro dazzled winning Sunday's Gr3 Pucker Up S. at Ellis Park, earning both a first GSW and winner's share of the $400,000 purse.

Eye-catching as her dominance was the newfound tactical pace which the Hurstland Farm graduate afforded jockey Luan Machado. A confirmed closer in her prior races, the Bolt d'Oro filly out of Heart of Destiny (Lion Heart) assumed a forward position at the start of Sunday's contest and never looked back.

Machado showed Destino d'Oro daylight soon into the homestretch and she responded on cue, drawing clear of nine other 3yo fillies toward a winning margin of 3 3/4 lengths.

Sunday's victory earned her a fees-paid berth to the September 10th Dueling Grounds Oaks at Kentucky Downs. She would also be among the early favorites for Keeneland's Gr1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup in October. The QE II is run over the same nine-furlong distance as the Pucker Up.

Destino d’Oro was bred by Hurstland with longtime partner Jamie Greene.