The name, especially if it is well chosen, will forever resonate in the achievements of his youth. And when he or she reaches the end of the line, having surpassed all reasonable expectations of the vulnerable race, they will be fondly remembered with all the praise due to a revered statesman or a celebrated artist.
Touch Gold, a son of Deputy Minister and grandson of Buckpasser, was euthanized on November 13 at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, where he had been admitted a few days earlier. At the age of 31, born on May 26, 1994, he came second Silver charm in terms of senior status at Old Friends Equine, the retirement home for former racehorses, stallions and mares, just down the road in Georgetown, Kentucky.
Touch Gold’s racing life lasted parts of three seasons and fifteen starts, but it was a brilliant stint of just four months with four races in the spring and summer of 1997 that secured his reputation as a thoroughbred of uncommon courage.
Those of us fortunate enough to follow the drama personally remember the impact of Touch Gold’s 8 1/2 long romp in the Lexington Stakes (G2) in April ’97, which thrust him squarely into the center of the Kentucky Derby (G1) conversation. Instead, owner Frank Stronach and trainer Dave Hofmans quickly dismissed such talk and pointed straight to the Preakness Stakes (G1).
A lion’s den of a field awaited at the Pimlico Race Course that included the 1-2-4 finishers of the Kentucky Derby: Silver Charm, Captain Bodgit and Free House. Touch Gold was the fourth choice, but his race was more than one step after the gates opened when he went to his nose and left knee. The stumble was captured for posterity by the helmet camera worn by Chris McCarron that day.
Somehow, Touch Gold recovered and unleashed a monumental effort, but not without physical costs. Coming from last place to finish fourth, he was beaten less than two lengths by the battling Silver Charm and Free House, with Captain Bodgit a close third. But in Touch Gold’s struggle to get back on his feet at the start, a hind foot had torn off a chunk of his left front hoof, making his race all the more impressive and his future riskier.
“It was really bad,” says Grant Hofmans, his father’s assistant at the time. “He tore off about half of that left front.”
In an effort that became the stuff of farrier legend, quartercrack specialist Ian McKinlay taped the wound and kept it clean, allowing the foal to be trained. He then applied a band-aid so Touch Gold could compete in the Belmont Stakes (G1). McCarron put the finishing touches on the miracle recovery with an icy ride that went from first around the clubhouse bend to fourth at the back, and then to a furious finish that ended Silver Charm’s Triple Crown dreams by three-quarters of a length.
Two months later, Touch Gold reappeared to win the Haskell Invitational Handicap (G1), beating Free House and Tale of the Cat. An hour earlier, Hofmans won the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2). Saratoga Race Course with Stronach’s Awesome Again. But despite all their success, Hofmans and Stronach parted ways later that year and the horses headed east to Patrick Byrne. Touch Gold could only win one fee race in four starts at age 4.
As a stallion, Touch Gold stood at Adena Springs, Stronach’s farm in Kentucky, from 1999. He moved to a New York outpost – Adena Springs in McMahon from Saratoga Thoroughbreds – from 2010 to 2013 before returning to Blue Grass for his final two seasons at stud. His very first harvest included Find goldwinner of the Stephen Foster Handicap (G1), and Calmness winner of the Santa Anita Oaks (G1). He finished with a total of 29 stakes winners and a number of daughters with admirable production records.
Touch Gold’s third act began in December 2015 with his arrival at Old Friends, where Seek Gold himself had lived since 2009. Grant Hofmans last saw Touch Gold in February 2024 when Old Friends threw a 30th birthday party for the two old warriors from the ’97 Triple Crown.
“A lot of people showed up, there were birthday cakes and they kept showing the Belmont over and over again,” Hofmans said. His father died in July ’24.
“Touch Gold looked good,” Hofmans noted. “He was gentle and loved his roots. He always had a very distinctive, kind of feminine head. But it was still him.
“He wasn’t a horse with a big presence, and he wasn’t necessarily one of the big draws,” Hofmans added. “But he had that big old engine to push him, and people certainly knew who he was. I think it was his grit and what he overcame that made him popular. Remember, he was a later colt – not even a full 3 when he ran in the Preakness.”
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