Leads a Phil D’Amato exacta in the 1 ¼-mile turf test
Santa Anita Press Box
ARCADIA, Calif.—Grade I winner Gold Phoenix got back on the beam Saturday when gutting out a narrow victory in the GII, $200,000 Charles Whittingham Stakes presented by FanDuel TV Saturday at Santa Anita.
Gold Phoenix (5-1), who ran poorly in last month’s GIII American when returning from a five-month layoff, received a ground-saving trip under hot-riding Kyle Frey and prevailed in a three-horse photo. Stablemate Prince Abama, a 13-1 outsider with Geovanni Franco in the irons, finished a head back in second with 2-1 favorite Planetario another neck back in third.
Trained by Phil D’Amato, Gold Phoenix completed 1 ¼ miles on firm turf in 2:00.91. D’Amato on Saturday was at Churchill Downs where he saddled GI Santa Anita Derby winner Stronghold to a seventh-place finish in the Kentucky Derby.
Balladeer (8-1) and Drayden Van Dyke showed the way with Gold Phoenix tracking in third on the rail. Both Planetario and Prince Abama lagged at the rear of the field as Balladeer set fractions of 24.14, 48.31, 1:13.61 and 1:37.26 for the opening mile.
When the field reached the quarter pole, Gold Phoenix was angled out by Frey and challenged Balladeer with the closers in hot pursuit. In the final sixteenth, Gold Phoenix called on his Grade I class and dug in gamely to earn his fifth career graded stakes win.
Gold Phoenix (inside) staves off stablemate Prince Abama. (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
For Frey, this was his seventh graded stakes win and second since 2018. He entered Saturday’s action as the leading rider at the Santa Anita Hollywood Meet.
“This means everything to me,” Frey said from the Winner’s Circle. “Especially with my family here. God has really taken me a long way and I’m just grateful and eager to see what else is in store.”
Gold Phoenix, who was fourth in last year’s Whittingham and third in 2022, returned $13.80, $6.00 and $3.80 as a slight overlay. Prince Abama returned $10.00 and $6.40. Planetario, ridden by Hector Berrios for trainer Richard Mandella, paid $2.60 to show.
Gold Phoenix was exiting a ninth-place finish in the GIII American going a mile on turf April 4 at Santa Anita. That was his first start since finishing fourth Nov. 4 in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita.
Bred in Ireland, Gold Phoenix is a 6-year-old gelding by Belardo. He made one start in his native country before arriving with D’Amato ahead of the 2021-22 Santa Anita Winter-Spring Meet.
Last year, Gold Phoenix won the GI Frank E. Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita and both the GII Del Mar Handicap and GII Eddie Read at Del Mar. In 2022, he also won the Del Mar Handicap.
Gold Phoenix is owned by Little Red Feather Racing, Sterling Stables LLC and Marsha Naify. He is 19: 7-3-3 with $1,342,257 in earnings.
With the win, Gold Phoenix earns an automatic berth plus travel incentives for the historic GI Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park July 6. The reward is part of a partnership recently announced between 1/ST Racing and the British Jockey Club.
Charles Whittingham Stakes Quotes
Jockey Quotes Kyle Frey, Gold Phoenix, Winner: “Luckily, we got out good and sat behind the leader. He tipped out a little, then tipped back in. So, it kind of worked out good because that outside horse was moving with him. The rest is history. This means everything to me. Especially with my family here. God has really taken me a long way and I’m just grateful and eager to see what else is in store. When I rode him for the first time, he was pretty green and was trying to figure stuff out. He had kind of given me a slow break one time and the connections were a little upset by that, but since then, he has done it with several other guys. He just has his off days where he just kind of clunks down and you have to be ready for it. Today I was ready for it. He broke good and I wanted to make sure I got him on his toes, and I tried to keep his attention. I knew I had Victor and (Rockemperor) inside and behind me and I had to kind of hold him off, because he looked like he had enough to get up and get going in there. I timed it out and I used everything I had that last eighth. I was really just able to hang on. It was pretty darn close there.”
Gold Phoenix with Kyle Frey aboard. (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Trainer Quotes Rudy Cruz, Assistant To, Phil D’amato, Gold Phoenix, Winner: “The owners and the trainers made the difference with this horse. When this horse first came, we had to take a lot of time with him because he wasn’t right. So, Phil gave him enough time and he is showing it every single race he runs he gives his heart out. I’m so happy for him.”
Owner Quotes Gary Fenton, Little Red Feather Racing, Winner: “As owners you learn patience in this game and the love of this game. The love and the trust that you give Rudy, Phil and the whole team, you don’t have the patience without the trust. Phil and his team just did a masterful job of getting him ready. The prep race didn’t go exactly as we had hoped, but Phil promised that the real Gold Phoenix would show up today and not only did he, but we had a lot of decisions to make in this race on where to put Gold Phoenix. It didn’t look like there was a lot of speed and Phil convinced us that the horse could be a little closer than normal. If the speed wasn’t there, we would kind of let Kyle dictate what happens during the race and man. Phil’s instructions and Kyle’s ride it was just perfection. I think the team needs to discuss if we should go into the Royal Ascot and just stick around England for a couple of weeks and have a nice start to the summer.”
