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DEL MAR — To begin with, he is a beautiful horse — a big, powerful, statuesque, 8-year-old chestnut gelding with distinctive white leg markings. “He’s a happy horse,” close associate Phil D’Amato said Thursday morning.
“When he sees you in the morning, he sticks his ears out. He’s intelligent.
I look forward to seeing him every day. He’s a member of our family.
“He’s just fun to be around … a big, beautiful horse who would be a dream for any horse owner.” But that’s not why Gold Phoenix has become a favorite among racing followers at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.
Gold Phoenix seeks to extend two Del Mar records and tie an international mark Saturday when he seeks a fifth straight win in the Grade II Del Mar Handicap — a demanding 1 1/8-mile marathon on the turf course.
Only two other horses in the history of racing have won the same stakes race five straight times — the legendary Kelso in the Jockeys’ Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park between 1960-64 and Manikato in the William Reid Stakes in Australia from 1979-83.
Plus, Gold Phoenix will be attempting to win his seventh stakes at Del Mar after winning the Grade II Eddie Read a second time on July 28, running down favored Formidable Man in the stretch. Gold Phoenix has six wins in 11 career starts at Del Mar with two third-place finishes.
He has earned $1.44 million at the track. “Gold Phoenix’s success at Del Mar over the past four years has been a total team effort to keep him healthy and happy,” said D’Amato, who is the trainer of the Irish-bred champion.
“From the owners (Agave Racing Stables and Little Red Feather Racing) to the grooms, to the riders in the morning to the jockeys in races and more, he’s treated with loving care by people who love him and all horses. “It’s warmed all our hearts how special this horse is.
He’s a winner because he wants to win. You can see that in the way he runs late in races.
And I have a strong personal connection to Gold Phoenix. “He’s just a throwback horse.
He’s hard-knocking and gives you his all every day. The late, great Mike Mitchell brought me along as a trainer.
Mike loved the old grass marathon horse. Gold Phoenix was his horse to a tee.
I think about that every day I see Gold Phoenix.” It took some trial-and-error for D’Amato to see Gold Phoenix was suited to marathon races on the grass. “We bought him as a two-turn horse,” said D’Amato.
“As we brought him alon g, we started tailoring his races to a marathon style. He responded positively.
The longer distance we ran him, the stronger he was.” Gold Phoenix won his first Del Mar Handicap by a head in 2022 with Flavien Prat aboard. He won in 2023 by 1¼ lengths with Juan Hernandez riding.
In 2024, the Del Mar Handicap victory came by a neck with Kyle Frey up. And last year, Gold Phoenix won by a neck under Prat.
Hector Berrios, who is considered one of Del Mar’s stronger riders on the turf, was aboard Gold Phoenix on July 26 when he won his second Eddie Read Stakes by a nose. He will again be aboard for Saturday’s record-setting bid.
“I think a lot of his popularity with fans is how he wins races. No matter the length, he has something left late and finishes strong.
That’s how it was in the Eddie Read last month against Formidable Man. But I think a lot of things go into his popularity starting with his name.
Then there’s his accomplishments and his style. “But those of us close to him also know there’s something else … just who he is.”
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