Drew's Gold sold, moved to Summers
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Drew’s Gold, a two-time listed stakes winner and runner-up in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens, has been purchased privately by Sheikh Rashid Bin Humaid Alnuami’s RRR Racing from James Chapman and co-owner Stuart Tsujimoto.
Drew’s Gold has been turned over to trainer Chad Summers with the goal of getting to the Dubai Golden Shaheen next March.
In the summer, RRR Racing purchased Clapton and, after a fourth in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, he won the Grade 2 Lukas Classic.
“We’ve been pursuing him for a long time,” Summers said. “You’ve seen some of his races, his win [in the Jimmy Winkfield] at Aqueduct and win in the Gold Fever and second in the Woody Stephens were as impressive performances as there were among 3-year-old” sprinters.
Since his runner-up in the Woody Stephens, Drew’s Gold has gone off form, with a third in the Grade 2 Amsterdam; a seventh in the Mahony Stakes, an ill-advised turf try; and a well-beaten fifth in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens on Aug. 26 at Saratoga.
Summers said the plan is to get a race into Drew’s Gold before year’s end and then he and Clapton would spend about 90 days in Dubai before returning to the United States following the March 30 Dubai World Cup night, with a North American campaign in the second half of 2024.
Meanwhile, Clapton is back in New York and is training toward the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita if he can get into the field. If not, a race like the Grade 2, $600,000 Clark on Nov. 24 at Churchill Downs would be an alternative.
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