Goldencents made his name with back-to-back victories in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, a feat that cemented his status as a fast horse and led to him sealing his place in the sport’s history by siring a Kentucky Derby winner.
Humble roots
Karyn Pirrello bought Golden Works, in foal to Into Mischief, for $7,000 at the 2007 Keeneland January auction of horses of all ages, getting the Banker’s Gold mare for a song, and in 2009 she sent her to this new stallion on the block. Banker’s Gold was a two-time stakes winner, while Into Mischief had just come off the circuit with a Grade 1 victory in the 2007 Cash Call Futurity at Hollywood Park and then a second in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita Park in 2008 in his last start.
Pirrello sent Golden Works to the new sire of Spendthrift Farm and then offered a portion of the resulting foal to her friends Charles and Lyra Miller of Rosecrest Farm.
Golden Works produced a beautiful brown colt on March 7, 2010, with a right hind sock and a white circle with a line up to his nose. However, when her colt went through the fall yearling sale at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky in 2011, he sold for just $5,500 to Webb Carroll, who then retained the colt in the 2012 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. 2 year olds in training in June and horses of racing age. There, the Golden Works colt was sold to Dennis O’Neill, brother of trainer Doug O’Neill, for $62,000 and subsequently joined the trainer’s barn in California. The colt, named Goldencents after his owners’ rare coin website of the same name, was owned by Glenn Sorgenstein and Josh Kaplan’s WC Racing with RAP Racing, the stable of famed basketball coach Rick Pitino and David Kenney each taking shares.
Goldencents debuted in a first 5 ½ furlong special weight race at Del Mar on September 2, 2012. With Kevin Krigger in the saddle and running on behalf of assistant trainer Leandro Mora, the Into Mischief colt broke sharply, moved into the lead and was then hand-ridden to a 7 ¼ length victory. Impressed by the performance, O’Neill promoted the colt to stakes company and sent him east to Belmont Park for the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes. With Krigger back on board, Goldencents led early in the one-mile stakes, but then gave way to Shanghai Bobby near the quarter pole and finished second by five lengths. Although Goldencents didn’t win, O’Neill was undeterred.
He sent him to Delta Downs in Louisiana, where the Into Mischief colt became his sire’s first stakes winner when he won the 1 1/16-mile Delta Downs Jackpot Stakes by 1 ¾ lengths, adding 10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the four he earned from his Champagne placement. Goldencents was now ready for a classic run in 2013.
Stellar season
Goldencents began his 3-year-old season in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita in early January 2013. The bay colt had already proven himself in two turns and had no trouble in the one-mile test, chasing pacer Manando until the final sixteenth of a mile before taking a one-and-a-half-length win under Krigger. O’Neill waited nine weeks for the San Felipe Stakes, where Goldencents finished fourth, before trying him in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby. There he pressed Super Ninety Nine, took over entering the stretch and held off 11-10 favorite Flashback to win by 1 ¼ lengths. In doing so, he became one of Into Mischief’s first two starters in the Kentucky Derby, with Vyjack also joining him at the start on the first Saturday in May.
Not only was Goldencents a first for Into Mischief, but also for Krigger, born in the US Virgin Islands. The colt was the rider’s first ascent in the Derby, a chance to become the first black jockey to win the run for the Roses since Jimmy Winkfield in 1902. However, it was not to be: Goldencents was in contention early in the race, but was soon pushed back and then eased to finish 17th.e out of 19. He had better luck in the Preakness, but ultimately finished fifth out of nine.
After his Triple Crown run was over, Goldencents returned to California where he posted three straight second-place finishes in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby, Grade 2 Pat O’Brien and Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes before attempting the Breeders’ Cup.
O’Neill entered him for the Dirt Mile instead of the Sprint or the Classic, the race being a home event as the Breeders’ Cup was at Santa Anita that year. He faced ten others in the Dirt Mile, including Verrazano, winner of the 2013 Haskell Invitational; Woodward Stakes winner Alpha; Golden Ticket, who finished in a dead heat with Alpha in the 2012 Travers Stakes; and Fed Biz, who had defeated Goldencents in the Pat O’Brien. Goldencents took command from the starting gate under jockey Rafael Bejarano and led every step, easily holding off all visitors to take the Dirt Mile by 2 ¾ lengths.
Sensational sequel
Goldencents was brought back for his four-year-old season and started 2014 in June at Belmont Park, facing Vyjack, Normandy Invasion and Palace Malice in a deep group for the Metropolitan Handicap. He passed pacesetter Broadway Empire near the quarter pole, briefly held the lead and then gave way to Palace Malice inside the final sixteenth of a mile, holding on to second place. O’Neill brought him back to California for the same three-stakes series leading up to a repeat bid in the Dirt Mile, to be contested again at Santa Anita Park.
He was second again in the Bing Crosby, defeated Fed Biz in the Pat O’Brien and then was passed in the closing stages of the Santa Anita Sprint Championship, where he finished a nose second behind Rich Tapestry.
For the 2014 Dirt Mile, the competition Goldencents faced was not as intimidating as in 2013, with the nine-horse field also including Golden Ticket, Fed Biz and Matt Winn Stakes winner Tapiture. Once again they proved no match for Goldencents. He took command early and had no qualms about adding a second Dirt Mile to his resume, winning by 1 ¼ lengths from Tapiture. It was a fitting end to a career that included six stakes victories. He went to stud at Spendthrift Farm to stand next to his father.
For some horses the story ends here. But for Goldencents, which is still with Spendthrift, he has a classic coda. Although his son By My Standards impressed on the Triple Crown Trail in 2019, he couldn’t take home the roses, but five years later another son of Goldencents did. Mystik Dan made a bold move on the rail and entered the 150 stretche Kentucky Derby and surprised everyone by holding off both Sierra Leone and Forever Young late to win the milestone run for the Roses. Both sons are now also at stud, offering both Into Mischief, who has produced three Derby winners himself, and Goldencents additional opportunities to cement their respective legacies.
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