Gold Phoenix won't ship for potential fifth straight start in Breeders' Cup Turf

Gold Phoenix, who has started in the last four runnings of the Breeders’ Cup Turf, is unlikely to be sent to Keeneland this weekend for the same race on Oct. 31 without assurance he will gain a berth in the field, trainer Phil D’Amato said.

An alternative plan is to start Gold Phoenix in the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup at 1 ½ miles at Del Mar on Nov. 27, he said.

A final decision for Gold Phoenix will be made this weekend.

When pre-entries were announced on Wednesday, Gold Phoenix was ranked sixth on a list of also-eligible runners. There were 22 pre-entries in a race that will be limited to 14 starters. As of Friday, only one runner from the 14 invited runners – Ombudsman from Britain – had been withdrawn.

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D’Amato said there is a reluctance from the partnership that owns Gold Phoenix to ship the 8-year-old gelding to Kentucky only to be relegated to an also-eligible list. When entries are taken on Monday, the field will be limited to 14 starters with as many as four also-eligibles.

“We’re not going to pay all that money to get a bad draw,” D’Amato said. “To ship him out there to be on the also-eligible list won’t be in the cards.”

Owned by the Little Red Feather partnership, Agave Racing Stable, Sterling Stable, and Marsha Naify, Gold Phoenix has won 13 of 35 starts and earned $2,605,087.

In the BC Turf, Gold Phoenix finished 10th of 13 at Keeneland in 2022, fourth at Santa Anita in 2023, fourth at Del Mar in 2024, and fifth at Del Mar last year.

In the last two years, Gold Phoenix has been the best-placed American horse.

Courtesy of a record four consecutive victories in the Del Mar Handicap in late summer, Gold Phoenix has started in the last four runnings of the BC Turf with a fees-paid berth.

This year, Gold Phoenix finished fourth, by three-quarters of a length, in the Del Mar Handicap behind Test Score, who is part of the BC Turf field.

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