King of Gosford lands in good spot in Mathis Mile

ARCADIA, Calif. – A three-time stakes winner typically requires no introduction, but trainer Phil D’Amato is right about King of Gosford and his runner-up finish last month in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar.

“I thought that was definitely the coming-out party for him,” D’Amato said. “He showed he can be one of the top dogs in the 3-year-old [turf] division.”

King of Gosford drops in class Thursday at Santa Anita, where he is the 6-5 program favorite in the Grade 2 Mathis Mile, race 9 of 11 on opening day. Except for low odds, King of Gosford enters the Mathis without a knock.

“He’s one of those horses with great tactical speed and a nice little turn of foot, he can kind of do it all,” D’Amato said.

Prior to the Hollywood Derby, the question for King of Gosford was if he could do it against top company. Turns out, the answer was yes. He missed by less than a length.

King of Gosford seeks his first graded stakes win in the Mathis. The colt’s main rivals also drop from the Hollywood Derby – fourth-place Stay Hot and seventh-place Atitlan. They will all be chasing Curlin’s Kaos, the likely Mathis pacesetter.

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The nine entrants also include Siennois, Heart Headed, Call Sign Seven, Cathal, and Lord Bullingdon. But if the best horse wins the historically predictable race, King of Gosford will be in the winner’s circle. Since 2006 when the Mathis became a graded race, favorites are 9 for 18.

King of Gosford won his first three U.S. starts in spring, including a pair of turf sprint stakes, then finished a troubled sixth in the Oceanside Stakes on opening day of the Del Mar summer meet. Since then, he has fired every start – second in the La Jolla Handicap, third versus older in a Grade 3 turf sprint, winner of a restricted stakes, and second in the Hollywood Derby.

Flavien Prat rides King of Gosford, who could tuck into a great trip positioned second behind Curlin’s Kaos. If and when the front-runner fades, King of Gosford should get first run. To win, he must hold off the rally of Stay Hot, who ran super finishing fourth in the Hollywood Derby.

Peter Eurton trains Stay Hot, a four-time stakes winner whose closing fractions in the Hollywood Derby were faster than any in the field. He ran his final eighth in 11.24 seconds, his final three-eighths in 35.24. Juan Hernandez rides Stay Hot, who missed by only a length in the Hollywood Derby.

Stay Hot is effective “as long as you get pace in front of him,” Eurton said. “And that’s a big deal, because he always seems to have to close late.”

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Atitlan, a Grade 2 winner two back at Santa Anita, looms the upsetter despite his seventh-place finish in the Hollywood Derby.

“Hector Berrios had too much confidence, so he let him drop back too far,” trainer John Shirreffs said.

Atitlan, who has improved each subsequent start, is likely to be positioned closer to the front in the Mathis.

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