Empire of Gold ends season with win, will return at Oaklawn
Empire of Gold defeated a field of stakes winners in a Remington Park allowance last week and will now be freshened for a spring campaign at Oaklawn Park, according to trainer Terry Eoff.
Eoff said Empire of Gold would get some downtime at his farm in Texas. Earlier this year, the horse ran third in the Grade 3, $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap at Oaklawn in his first start following a fourth-place finish in the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
“I think we’ll do like last year and give him that time off,” Eoff said. “We’ll give him about 90 days off and come back and run him at Oaklawn. We’ve got those six-furlong stakes to catch in March and April – the Whitmore in March and the Count Fleet in April. This year, we’ll have him ready a month earlier.”
The $200,000 Whitmore – the former Hot Springs Stakes named for the champion who won it five times – will be run March 19. The Count Fleet is set for April 16.
“We’d like to go to the Breeders’ Cup again,” Eoff said, “not run him as much and point towards the end of the year.
“He’s just coming into himself. I really think next year is going to be his best year.”
Eoff owns Empire of Gold with Johnny B. Evans.
The men also own multiple stakes winner Terra’s Angel. Eoff said plans are for Terra’s Angel to be bred to Maximus Mischief in 2022.
“We put her back in training and she ran fourth last time,” Eoff said. “I’m going to run her one more time, give her one more shot. There’s a grass race in a couple of weeks. We’ll try her once long on the turf. If she jumps up and blows them away, then our plans might change.”