King of Gosford tries Del Mar Mile again, gets much happier ending
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DEL MAR, Calif. - King of Gosford started in the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile for the second consecutive year on Saturday. The outcome on Saturday could not have been more different.
King of Gosford was last of six in 2025, emerging from the race with a cut on his leg, trainer Phil D’Amato said.
On Saturday, King of Gosford ($12.40) closed from fourth on the backstretch to record a head win over a fast-closing Detain, the 3-1 second choice.
King of Gosford was timed in 1:34.22 in the turf race.
“Last year in this race, he got clipped from behind and it cut his hind leg,” D’Amato said. “It took a while to get back into (stakes) form.”
Ridden by Umberto Rispoli, King of Gosford tracked pacesetter Cabo Spirit, who set a fair early pace of 23.09 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 47.08 for a half-mile.
King of Gosford was fourth on the backstretch and third on the turn. In early stretch, Rispoli moved King of Gosford between Cabo Spirit to his outside and El Potente, who raced on the inside of the trio. King of Gosford took the lead in the final sixteenth and was fully extended to hold off Detain, who closed from seventh with a wide rally.
“We needed two more jumps,” said trainer Michael McCarthy, who trains Detain.
“He finished strong. Maybe a mile was a bit sharp for him. I’m proud of the way he ran.”
Detain finished a neck in front of El Potente, the 5-2 favorite.
The $303,000 Del Mar Mile was Detain’s American stakes debut. A 4-year-old Irish-bred colt, Detain was third in the Group 1 French Derby in 2025.
Cabo Spirit finished fourth, followed by Astronomer, Artislas, Freedom’s Not Free, Twirling Point, Almendares, Sinsel and Seal Team.
King of Gosford races for the partnership of Sandra Benowitz, John Rochfort, Michael Nentwig, Saul Gevertz and Jeremy Peskoff.
D’Amato and Rispoli teamed earlier on Saturday’s program to win the Grade 2 Green Flash Handicap with Sorrento Sky, who is co-owned by a group that includes Benowitz, Rochford, Gevertz and Nentwig.
King of Gosford, a 5-year-old British-bred horse by Zoustar, has won 9 of 22 starts and earned $1,002,192. The Del Mar Mile was King of Gosford’s seventh stakes win, but not the most prestigious. He won the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita in May 2025.
Earlier this summer, King of Gosford won the restricted Wickerr Stakes at a mile on turf at Del Mar on July 19. D’Amato said the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Keeneland on Oct. 31 is an autumn goal for King of Gosford.
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