Future looks bright for Bar of Gold

ELMONT, N.Y. – While still living in the moment of Bar of Gold’s 18-length victory in last Saturday’s $250,000 Empire Distaff Handicap – for which she was assigned a 109 Beyer Speed Figure – trainer John Kimmel couldn’t help but think about the 4-year-old filly’s future.

“She quickened so fast, she might be a freak on the grass,” Kimmel said Monday at Belmont Park. “We’ll try the grass next year at some point.”

Kimmel expects Bar of Gold to have one more race on dirt this year, most likely the Grade 3, $250,000 Go for Wand Stakes at Aqueduct on Dec. 3. The Go for Wand, which typically had been run the day after Thanksgiving, has been pushed back a week and is still scheduled as a one-turn-mile race over the main track.

Bar of Gold’s victory in the Empire Distaff made her 5 for 5 against New York-breds and over an off track. She is 0 for 10, though, against open company on dry surfaces, though she has placed in graded stakes.

Prior to Saturday’s win, Bar of Gold had finished a fast-closing third in the Presque Isle Masters, a 6 1/2-furlong race run over a synthetic surface. She rallied from 10th and was seven wide in the stretch.

Kimmel credits jockey Joel Rosario for getting Bar of Gold to settle early in her races. She was fifth of six early in the Empire Distaff.

“She was next to last for the first quarter of a mile,” Kimmel said. “That’s the key to her. She should be limitless in distance if she gets a chance to settle. They’re a good combination. He’s a very patient kind of rider, and he knows her well.”