It’s not often that you see a Manitoba-bred horse in a pedigree, let alone a Breeders’ Cup winner. Goldencents is that rare exception, a son of breed-shaping sire Into Mischief produced by a mare whose wins all came at the claiming ranks at Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg. Part of his sire’s first crop, the Doug O’Neill trainee was one of those racehorses that helped put his sire on the map, paving the way for Authentic, Covfefe, Sovereignty, and many more. 

Goldencents made his reputation on back-to-back Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile victories, a feat that cemented his status as a speedy horse and led to his sealing his place in the sport’s history by siring a Kentucky Derby winner.

Humble Roots

Karyn Pirrello bought Golden Works in foal to Into Mischief for $7,000 at the 2007 Keeneland January horses of all ages sale, getting the Banker’s Gold mare for a song, and in 2009 she sent her to this new stallion on the block. Banker’s Gold was a two-time graded stakes winner while Into Mischief had just come off the racetrack with a Grade 1 win in the 2007 Cash Call Futurity at Hollywood Park and then a second in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita Park in 2008 in his final start.

Pirrello sent Golden Works to Spendthrift Farm’s new sire and then offered a share of the resulting foal to her friends Charles and Lyra Miller of Rosecrest Farm.

Two-time Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Goldencents (Eclipse Sportswire)

Golden Works produced a beautiful bay colt March 7, 2010, with a right hind sock and a circle of white with a line down to his nose. However, when her colt went through the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall yearling sale in 2011, he sold for only $5,500 to Webb Carroll, who then pinhooked the colt in the 2012 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. June 2-year-olds in training and horses of racing age sale. There, Golden Works’s colt sold to Dennis O’Neill, brother of trainer Doug O’Neill, for $62,000 and then joined the trainer’s California barn. Named Goldencents after his owners’ rare coin website of the same name, the colt was owned by Glenn Sorgenstein and Josh Kaplan's W C Racing with RAP Racing, famed basketball coach Rick Pitino’s stable, and David Kenney each taking shares.

Goldencents debuted Sept. 2, 2012, in a 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight race at Del Mar. With Kevin Krigger in the saddle and running in the name of assistant trainer Leandro Mora, the Into Mischief colt broke sharply, went to the lead, and then was hand-ridden to a 7 ¼-length win. Impressed by the performance, O’Neill promoted the colt to stakes company, sending him east to Belmont Park for the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes. With Krigger again aboard, Goldencents led early in the one-mile stakes, but then gave way to Shanghai Bobby near the quarter-pole, finishing second by five lengths. Even though Goldencents did not win, O’Neill was undeterred.

He shipped him to Delta Downs in Louisiana, where the Into Mischief colt became his sire’s first stakes winner when he took the 1 1/16-mile Delta Downs Jackpot Stakes by 1 ¾ lengths, adding 10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the four he had earned from his Champagne placing. Goldencents was now poised for a classic run in 2013.

Stellar Season

Goldencents wins 2013 Santa Anita Derby (Eclipse Sportswire)

Goldencents started his 3-year-old season in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita in early January 2013. Already proven around two turns, the bay colt had no trouble with the one-mile test, stalking pacesetter Manando to the last sixteenth of a mile before pulling out a 1½-length win under Krigger. O’Neill waited nine weeks for the San Felipe Stakes, where Goldencents finished fourth, before trying him in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby. There, he pressed Super Ninety Nine, took over entering the stretch, and held off 11-10 favorite Flashback to win by 1 ¼ lengths. With that, he became one of Into Mischief’s first two starters in the Kentucky Derby, with Vyjack also joining him in the starting gate on the first Saturday in May.

Not only was Goldencents a first for Into Mischief, but also for Krigger, a native of the U.S. Virgin Islands. The colt was the rider’s first mount in the Derby, a chance to become the first Black jockey to win the run for the roses since Jimmy Winkfield in 1902. However, that was not to be: Goldencents was in contention early in the race, but soon was shuffled back and then eased to finish 17^th out of 19. He had better luck in the Preakness but ultimately finished fifth of nine.

His Triple Crown run done, Goldencents headed back to California, where he turned in three runner-up performances in a row in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby, Grade 2 Pat O’Brien, and Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes before trying the Breeders’ Cup.

O’Neill entered him in the Dirt Mile rather than the Sprint or the Classic, the race a home game as that year’s Breeders’ Cup was at Santa Anita. He faced 10 others in the Dirt Mile, including 2013 Haskell Invitational winner Verrazano; Woodward Stakes winner Alpha; Golden Ticket, who finished in a dead heat with Alpha in the 2012 Travers Stakes; and Fed Biz, who had bested Goldencents in the Pat O’Brien. Goldencents seized command out of the starting gate under jockey Rafael Bejarano and led every step of the way, holding off all comers with ease and taking the Dirt Mile by 2 ¾ lengths.

Sensational Sequel

Brought back for his 4-year-old season, Goldencents started 2014 in June at Belmont Park, where he faced Vyjack, Normandy Invasion, and Palace Malice among a deep group for the Metropolitan Handicap. He passed pacesetter Broadway Empire near the quarter-pole, held the lead briefly, and then gave way to Palace Malice inside the final sixteenth of a mile, holding on for second. O’Neill brought him back to California for the same sequence of three stakes to lead up to a repeat bid in the Dirt Mile, to be contested at Santa Anita Park again.

Goldencents wins 2014 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (Eclipse Sportswire)

He was second again in the Bing Crosby, got the better of Fed Biz in the Pat O’Brien, and then was passed inside the final strides of the Santa Anita Sprint Championship, finishing a nose second to Rich Tapestry.

For the 2014 Dirt Mile, the competition Goldencents faced was not quite as daunting as 2013, with the nine-horse field also including Golden Ticket, Fed Biz, and Matt Winn Stakes winner Tapiture. Again, they proved no match for Goldencents. He took command early and had no trouble adding a second Dirt Mile to his resume, winning by 1 ¼ lengths over Tapiture. It was a fitting finale for a career that included six graded stakes wins. He went to stud at Spendthrift Farm to stand alongside his sire.  

For some horses, the story ends here. For Goldencents, though, who still stands at Spendthrift, his has a classic coda. Although his son By My Standards made a splash on the 2019 Triple Crown trail, he was not able to bring home the roses, but five years later, another son of Goldencents did. Mystik Dan made a bold move on the rail entering the stretch of the 150^th Kentucky Derby and surprised everyone by holding off both Sierra Leone and Forever Young late to win the milestone run for the roses. Both sons are now also at stud, offering both Into Mischief, who has notched three Derby winners himself, and Goldencents additional opportunities to bolster their respective legacies.