Del Mar track management may need to rethink the name of the Del Mar Handicap (G2T) after Gold Phoenix captured the 1 3/8-mile turf event for the fourth year in a row.
Despite losing in his three prior starts this year, Gold Phoenix brought his "A" game to his favorite race, gutting out the victory in a four-way blanket finish Aug. 30 at Del Mar. By prevailing in the Del Mar 'Cap, a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In contest for the Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T), the gelding will be bringing his connections back to the World Championships for the fourth time.
"It's an incredible story, this horse will now bring us to four consecutive Breeders' Cups," said Gary Fenton, the managing partner for co-owner Little Red Feather Racing. "He's just a tremendous horse, a horse that you don't get very often."
Gold Phoenix, the 2-1 favorite, was reunited with jockey Flavien Prat for the first time since 2022 when the pair landed the 2022 Del Mar 'Cap before finishing 10th in the Breeders' Cup Turf. As Saturday's race unfolded, Gold Phoenix took up his customary midpack position as front-running Final Boss attempted to lull the field to sleep through leisurely early fractions of :25.05, :50.89, and 1:16.51. Passing the mile marker, Gold Phoenix, racing in the clear the entire journey, suddenly sprang to action under Prat. Full of momentum and widest of all into the lane, the gritty gelding fought off rivals from all sides in a hair-raising stretch drive.
In the end, he was a neck in front of Stay Hot, who had taken the lead in midstretch, and Atitlan, with a comebacking Truly Quality crossing the line in fourth on the far outside.
"I thought at the sixteenth pole he wasn't going to get there," said Little Red Feather Racing's founder Billy Koch on the partnership's X page. "He's got so much guts."
Gold Phoenix ($6.20) stopped the clock in 2:16.09 over the firm turf, running the distance a second faster than his time from last year's race.
By Belardo, who was represented by a graded winner on the East Coast Saturday in Ladies Turf Stakes (G3T) winner Special Wan, Gold Phoenix gave trainer Phil D'Amato an unprecedented 10th title in the Del Mar Handicap. Bred in Ireland by Mighty Universe, Gold Phoenix races for the ownership group of Little Red Feather Racing, Agave Racing Stable, Sterling Stables, and Marsha Naify. The gelding joined D'Amato's barn at the start of his 4-year-old campaign.
Gold Phoenix has come a long way since his initial North American win in April 2022. Seven graded stakes wins, including a grade 1, and three trips to the Breeders' Cup Turf later, the old warrior will carry his team to the World Championships once again. Perhaps this will be his year in a fitting ending to a memorable career.
