Godolphin Stands Alone

Considering the long history of Thoroughbred racing, it's rare to use the word "unprecedented" when it comes to any achievement. But here we are with Godolphin's unprecedented accomplishment of winning the Kentucky Oaks (G1), Kentucky Derby (G1), One Thousand Guineas (G1), and Two Thousand Guineas (G1) in a single weekend. The biggest of Godolphin's big racing weekends began at 6:04 p.m. ET, Friday, May 2, when Good Cheer encountered some light bumping leaving the gate in the Kentucky Oaks. Moments later as the field turned toward home, Good Cheer would be seen surging past four other accomplished fillies on the wet-fast track on her way to another decisive victory under Luis Saez and for trainer Brad Cox. The homebred daughter of Medaglia d'Oro has won her seven starts by a combined 44 1/2 lengths, a stretch that has included five stakes wins, three grade 2 scores, and a grade 1 win. The Kentucky Oaks plays as a classic, though it technically doesn't carry that status. That's quite a Friday, but the good times were only just beginning. Less than 17 hours later, at 10:35 a.m. ET, Saturday, May 3, Ruling Court provided Godolphin with its sixth victory in the Two Thousand Guineas when the Kentucky-bred son of Triple Crown winner Justify prevailed at Newmarket. Less than nine hours after that score, Sovereignty would rally from 17th place early—traveling five or six wide under Junior Alvarado—to post a clear victory in the Kentucky Derby. Trained by Bill Mott, the homebred son of Into Mischief is the first Kentucky Derby winner for Godolphin—fulfilling a long-held ambition for Sheikh Mohammed. With the win, Godolphin became the first owner/breeder since Calumet Farm in 1952 to win both the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks in the same year. At this point, the One Thousand Guineas—contested less than 16 hours after the Derby—somehow felt preordained. Then, it played out that way. Desert Flower (IRE) led at every call to nail down a fifth win in the fillies' classic for Godolphin. Homebred Desert Flower is a daughter of Night of Thunder (IRE). The Newmarket classic winners are trained by Charlie Appleby and were ridden by William Buick—the first jockey/trainer combination to sweep those two classics in 20 years. "(Sheikh Mohammed) puts a lot of resources into it," said Godolphin USA director of bloodstock Michael Banahan. "These are the types of races that Godolphin wants to participate in and try and win. To have horses good enough to be able to have the opportunity to do that; that's what we're trying to do." Banahan noted that there's a team of terrific people behind the scenes working hard to help these top horses along from the time they're born to the track. For the Kentucky winners, he noted the wins are special because many of the people who put that work in at the farm are able to make the trip from near Lexington to Churchill Downs; see the horses win and join in the celebrations. Change the Change In a BH Daily column before the Derby, we noted the unfairness of a qualifying points rule change that forced Santa Anita Derby (G1) runner-up Baeza into waiting for a Kentucky Derby spot to open. As it turned out, the scratch of Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) winner Rodriguez allowed Baeza to make the field, although as an also-eligible he had to break from the outside post in what ended up being a field of 19 starters. Baeza's waiting game occurred because Churchill Downs added a wrinkle that reduced the points awarded in Derby-qualifying races if a race had five or fewer starters. For the five-horse Santa Anita Derby, Baeza's second-place points were reduced, which resulted in him needing help to make the Kentucky Derby field. The Santa Anita Derby featured, at the time, the two top-rated 3-year-olds in North America in Journalism and champion 2-year-old male Citizen Bull. The quality of the race was further backed up both before the Kentucky Derby, as Journalism was favored, and after the race, as Journalism and Baeza finished second and third. As we suggested in the column (The Road, April 18), it's time for this wrinkle to be smoothed out. Either eliminate the field size requirement, or keep a version that reduces the number of placings that receive points: Award the same points to first, second, and third, but do not award points to fifth and perhaps fourth. This is a special BH Daily edition of What's Going On Here.