Stop the presses: A Gold-trained juvenile loses

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Stanley Gold found himself in unfamiliar territory after Friday’s second race – not in the winner’s circle. The Gold-trained Good Genes finished second behind runaway winner Moment Is Right in the maiden special weight dash for 2-year-olds.

The loss was the first for Gold in the four 2-year-old races here this spring. What made the setback all the more surprising is that Good Genes was the best bred of the four babies he’s started so far. Good Genes is a son of Awesome of Course and a full brother to Eclipse champion Awesome Feather.

“I’m completely disappointed this colt did not win today,” said Gold. “But we’ve also struggled with her 3-year-old full sister, who has yet to break her maiden, so I’m starting to think these horses need more time, like they don’t want to be rushed. Awesome Feather, she was just a freak.”

Gold said he has nine 2-year-olds on the grounds for Jacks or Better Farm, with another 11 or 12 still on the farm. Among those yet to start are full brothers to the multiple Grade 1 winner Jackson Bend and to Fort Loudon.

“We plan on running early,” said Gold. “When these horses come in, we’re not breaking them, we’re training them, while many of the others here are still breaking their young horses. We’re ready for business and try to move on from there. The main thing is you need some luck. You can’t have any setbacks or you can miss the whole show.”

Gold worked two of his top older horses here Friday morning, Sing Praises, who went an easy five furlongs in 1:00.17, and Dogwood Trail, who completed the same distance in 1:01.50. Gold is pointing both horses to the Summit of Speed in July but said he’s having problems finding preps for them.