Drew’s Gold remains undefeated and becomes a stakes winner in the Jimmy Winkfield (NYRA/Coglianese)
By Ryan Martin – NYRA Press Office
OZONE PARK, N.Y.— Keeping an unbeaten record intact, Drew’s Gold utilized a frontrunning trip to earn his first stakes coup in Saturday’s $100,000 Jimmy Winkfield for 3-year-olds going six furlongs at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Owned by trainer James Chapman in partnership with Stuart Tsujimoto, Drew’s Gold is now unscathed in three-lifetime starts, arriving off a sharp 3 3/4-length conquest against winners on January 28 at Laurel Park.
Drew’s Gold broke his maiden in May going five furlongs at Churchill Downs, defeating next-out winners Undalay and Top of My Game. The dark bay or brown son of Violence, who was away slowly in both previous outings, broke alertly and built on his advantage through the stretch drive to win by 4 1/4 lengths under Jose Gomez.
Breaking from post 4, Drew’s Gold surged to the lead in tandem with Kool Kathmandu, who overcame a stumbled start, to mark the opening quarter mile in 23.47 seconds over the fast main track. Gomez nudged his charge around the far turn as Kool Kathmandu dropped out of contention with 5-2 second choice Clubhouse looming from third to the outside as the half-mile elapsed in 47.81.
At the top of the stretch, Drew’s Gold began to draw away as Clubhouse tried to launch a rally from the outside with Joey Freshwater looming in between horses. But neither horse was able to catch the winner, who completed the journey in a final time of 1:13.09.
Clubhouse completed the exacta by three-quarters of a length over Joey Freshwater with Daydreaming Boy and Kool Kathmandu rounding out the order of finish.
Gomez said he rode Drew’s Gold with confidence.
“He’s won two back-to-back, both breaking not the best. I just wanted to make sure he was standing right and let him do whatever he wanted to do,” Gomez said. “He came out strong today and I just tried to nurse him along.
“I knew I was banging heads, but I didn’t want to take too much out of him,” he added. “I just let him do his own thing.”
Chapman credited Gomez for an effective ride.
“I loved seeing that [the good break] because what he was doing is he was getting himself left and then he was taking off up the backside. Whenever you’ve got to grab a horse like that, it takes a lot out of them,” Chapman said. “He was able to ride him with one rhythm today, which I think helped him. He likes to sit with horses and watch horses, so when he broke good, I figured we had a really good chance.”
In addition to being undefeated, Drew’s Gold’s three victories have each come at different racetracks.
“He’s a really professional horse, it’s just little things,” Chapman said. “We had a setback after the first race and those little things that babies usually get through, it takes him a little bit longer. He could be spooking at a sign on the way to the paddock. It’s nothing major, and he’s an easy horse to get along with.”
Chapman said Drew’s Gold will likely target the seven-furlong Grade 3, $200,000 Bay Shore on April 8 at the Big A.
Returning $5.50 for a $2 win wager as the 8-5 post time favorite, Drew’s Gold banked $55,000 in victory which brought his earnings past the six-figure mark to $140,120.
Bred in Kentucky by Woodford Thoroughbreds, Drew’s Gold is out of the dual surface multiple stakes winning Vindication mare Frolic’s Revenge and is a half-sibling to American Frolic, a stakes winner on grass.
Live racing returns on Sunday at the Big A with a nine-race card, featuring the $100,000 Broadway in Race 3. First post is 12:50 p.m. Eastern.
