Tuscan Gold * The Racing Biz
Joseph Aiello
May 18, 2024
The lightly raced Tuscan Gold has never won a stakes race or even defeated winners, having a single win in three career starts.
So why the love for him? He’s shown plenty of talent in his brief career, and finished a good third in the Louisiana Derby in just his third start. He is trained by two-time Preakness winner Chad Brown, and both of Brown’s earlier winners had just three starts. For good measure, Brown scratched his horse out of another race to point for this one.
RACING CAREER
Entering the Preakness as the most lightly raced in the field with just three starts, this colt began his racing career in early November at Aqueduct going eight furlongs on the dirt. He closed nicely into fourth, but was never a factor after a bump at the gate, falling victim to his stablemate Sierra Leone.
With a better break in his next try at Gulfstream, Tuscan Gold showed real potential at a mile and one sixteenth, pulling away to win by six and a quarter lengths. This race gave trainer Chad Brown enough confidence to start him in the Louisiana Derby after a near two month layoff, hoping to get into the Kentucky Derby.
Tuscan Gold
Medaglia d’Oro – Valadorna, by Curlin
Career Record: 3-1-0-1
Trainer: Chad Brown
Owner: William H. Lawrence, Walmac Farm, and Stonestreet Stables LLC
Breeder: Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC
Career Earnings: $147,100
Despite just two maiden tries to that point, Tuscan Gold went off at 11/1, coming from mid pack to finish a close third. Considering the lack of experience, that result was impressive and came at the same mile and three-sixteenths distance as the Preakness. A dazzling pedigree and strong connections puts this colt at a relatively short 8/1 morning line entry at Pimlico, even if continued seasoning and improvement may be needed to contend with the top runners of this group.
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BLOODLINES
Having Medaglia d’Oro, the leading active North American sire by graded stakes winners, on top will always help a horse’s value, as Tuscan Gold was sold for $600,000 as a yearling. Medaglia d’Oro has had his fair share of racing success on top of his siring success, placing in two Breeders’ Cup Classics and winning the Travers Stakes in 2002. Even though he struggled in the Preakness in what was the worst finish of his career, his over five million in career earnings puts him amongst the top earners ever adjusted by inflation.
Golden Sixty, an Australian bred runner based in Hong Kong by Medaglia d’Oro recently became the highest earning horse ever, amassing over $20,000,000 racing in Hong Kong. A three time Hong Kong horse of the year, Golden Sixty still may not be the most notable Medaglia d’Oro offspring, with the successful mares Elate, Songbird, and Rachel Alexandra all being sired by him.
Equally impressive is Curlin as the broodmare sire, having produced twenty-four stakes winners in that role and still rated as one of the top sires in the country with a whopping four Breeders’ Cup winners as his progeny. These bloodlines make it more obvious why Tuscan Gold is so highly regarded despite only one stakes effort and three races in his career.
Dam Valadorna was a graded stakes winner in her career.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
After a recent work at Belmont where Tuscan Gold ran with last year’s Preakness runner-up Blazing Sevens, trainer Chad Brown told Pimlico news “That was the best I have ever seen him work. He came out of it in good shape.”
With a clear step up in competition coming for Tuscan Gold, Brown sounds bullish on his chances to win in this spot, especially after seeing him paired with Blazing Sevens. “It was a good test for him against a horse that is established. What better horse to prepare him? I thought the work went excellent. I am confident going into the race. He is fast enough on figures to win.” If the speed figures continue to climb, Tuscan Gold can certainly be in the mix here as the top contenders haven’t dazzled from a speed standpoint in their young careers to this point.
