ARCADIA, Calif. – Gold Phoenix has had three races on his annual calendar since 2022.
He has won the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap in late August or early September annually since 2022, and has run with mixed results since then in the Grade 2 John Henry Turf Championship at Santa Anita in advance of the Breeders’ Cup Turf.
Gold Phoenix became the first four-time winner of the Del Mar Handicap on Aug. 30. He followed with a first career win in the John Henry Turf Championship on Sept. 27 after finishing third in the race in 2022, and fifth in 2023 and 2024.
On Nov. 1, Gold Phoenix is back in the BC Turf, with the hope that he can improve on fourth-place finishes at Santa Anita in 2023 and Del Mar last year. Gold Phoenix was 10th in the 2022 BC Turf.
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Gold Phoenix was the highest-placed American runner last year. To do that again could mark a successful race in trainer Phil D’Amato’s mind.
“I think this is a saltier race than last year,” D’Amato said on Saturday. “I do think he loves that Del Mar turf course more. All you can do is get him in peak performance level and I feel good about that.”
Saturday at Santa Anita, Gold Phoenix worked five furlongs on the infield training track with Mission of Joy, who is pre-entered in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 1.
Mission of Joy was timed in 1:00.20, while Gold Phoenix was timed in 1:01.
Gold Phoenix is “ready to go,” D’Amato said.
A 7-year-old Irish-bred gelding, Gold Phoenix races for the partnership of Little Red Feather Racing, Agave Racing, Sterling Stable and Marsha Naify, Gold Phoenix has won eight stakes, including the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile on turf in 2023. He won three stakes in 2023 and two in the last two years.
“That’s a testament to him being a nice horse and owners that you let manage him and have a long career,” D’Amato said. “So far, so good.”
The BC Turf is led by Minnie Hauk, a three-time Group 1 winner who was second in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in Paris on Oct. 5, and Rebel’s Romance who won the BC Turf in 2022 and last year, and is seeking to become the first three-time winner of the race.
Mission of Joy will be a longshot in the BC Filly and Mare Turf at 1 3/8 miles despite winning the Grade 2 Rodeo Drive Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Santa Anita on Oct. 4.
Mission of Joy is part of a large field that includes Gezora, winner of the Group 1 French Oaks in June; She Feels Pretty, who won the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes at Woodbine in August; and See The Fire, who was second in the Group 1 Prix de l’Opera for fillies and mares at Longchamp on Oct. 5.
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