LEXINGTON, Ky. - A return to Kentucky racing and making the acquaintance of jockey John Velazquez propelled Hoist the Gold to his first stakes win, a three-quarter-length victory over Nakatomi in the Grade 2, $350,000 Phoenix Stakes on Friday at Keeneland. Hoist the Gold ran well below his best finishing eighth in the Bing Crosby and sixth in the Pat O’Brien at Del Mar in July and August before returning to train at Churchill Downs. When he goes back to California this fall, it will be to Santa Anita for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. The Phoenix is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series and Hoist the Gold now has automatic fees-paid entry into the BC Sprint. Trainer Dallas Stewart left no doubt the big race is the next goal. “He likes it in Kentucky, but I think he’ll run real well in the Breeders’ Cup,” Stewart said. Hoist the Gold did finish a solid third in the Malibu Stakes last December at Santa Anita. A couple of Hoist the Gold’s top performances had come at Keeneland, in the Commonwealth this past April and in the Perryville a year ago. Those were typically competitive losses: The 4-year-old colt, who Stewart trains for James Culver’s Dream Team One Racing, came into Friday’s race with more than $600,000 in earnings but a 0-for-14 stakes record. :: Bet Keeneland with confidence! Get DRF PPs, Picks and more. Velazquez had much to do with Hoist the Colt’s breakthrough on a sun-drenched opening day of the Keeneland fall meet. The Phoenix might have been Velazquez’s first race aboard Hoist the Gold, but Velazquez had done his homework. Hoist the Gold sometimes dropped well behind the early leaders and engaged too late for a winning chance. “I told Dallas I’m going to come out running and if we lay third it’ll be perfect. I think he’s better when he’s in the game,” Velazquez said. Hoist the Gold broke from post 1 and Velazquez rode him like a Quarter Horse, sternly urging his mount to go forward along the rail – and getting more than he bargained for. Hoist the Gold wound up showing so much speed, he threatened to come inside pacesetters Sibelius and Doctor Oscar approaching the half-mile pole. “I probably overdid it out of the gate,” said Velazquez. “Once I got him back from the other two horses, I was good.” As the opening quarter-mile split clicked up at 21.79, Velazquez was easing Hoist the Gold a couple lengths behind the dueling leaders. By the three-eighths pole his mount was traveling smoothly and looked like a winner. He pounced on the pacesetters in upper stretch, taking the lead, then fended off a challenge first from Bango, who had stalked the pace, and then from closing Nakatomi, the 5-2 favorite. “Johnny is an expert at evaluating pace,” Stewart said. “He played it perfectly.” :: Bet with the Best! Get Free DRF PPs and Cashback when you wager. Join DRF Bets. Nakatomi overtook Bango the final half-furlong to get second by a neck. There was a two-length gap back to fourth-place Necker Island. Off a half mile in 44.83, Hoist the Gold was timed in 1:09.13 for six furlongs on a fast track. He paid $14.04. Hoist the Gold, a homebred, is by Mineshaft out of Tacit Approval, by Tapit. And he’s West Coast-bound again. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.