The fields for the 14 races that comprise the Breeders’ Cup World Championships really begin to come into focus in summer and fall. This regular feature will offer a snapshot profile of one of the previous weekend’s standout stars, usually a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” Challenge Series winner, and whether I’m buying or selling their chances to win Nov. 1-2 at Del Mar.

This week we take a closer look at Gold Phoenix, who on Aug. 31 won the Del Mar Handicap Presented by The Japan Racing Association for the third straight year. The 6-year-old Belardo gelding earned an expenses-paid berth to the $5 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf Nov. 2 at Del Mar with the victory.

Accomplishments: Gold Phoenix is an elite West Coast-based racehorse on the grass with six graded stakes victories in the last 24 months, beginning with the 2022 Del Mar Handicap two years ago today (Sept. 3).

His first foray in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf in fall 2022 was a well-beaten 10^th-place finish that perhaps is not indicative of his performance that day as he earned a 117 Equibase Speed Figure, which remains the best of his career.

Gold Phoenix was given four months off after the 2022 Breeders’ Cup. He returned fresh and ready for business in 2023, winning three of seven starts (all in graded stakes) including the first Grade 1 victory if his career in the Frank E. Kilroe Mile Stakes. He closed the year with a rallying fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at 51.60-1 odds.

Trainer Phil D’Amato gave Gold Phoenix another extended break from training after the 2023 Breeders’ Cup, and it seems to have done the 6-year-old well. After an unplaced finish in his return, he won the Charles Whittingham Stakes Presented by FanDuel TV in May, finished a troubled seventh in the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes at 1 1/8 miles, and added a win in the Del Mar Handicap last weekend.

“I think a big key to this is us doing right by the horse every year,” D’Amato said. “After Breeders’ Cup we give him a nice couple of months off and I think that prepares him to be prime when Breeders’ Cup comes around again.”

While unplaced in two tries at 1 ½ miles, both in previous editions of the Breeders’ Cup Turf, Gold Phoenix has posted quality speed figures at that distance and he’s 3-for-3 at 1 3/8 miles, so it does seem like the longer the better for him. He’s also amassed a sterling record of four wins and a third in six races on the grass at Del Mar, host track of this year’s Breeders’ Cup. He loves this turf course.

Speed Figures: The Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf typically draws a powerful contingent of international turf runners combined with all of the best turf horses in the U.S. The average winning Equibase Speed Figure for the last 10 editions has been 124.1 with a range from a 116 by Found in 2015 to a 133 by Enable in 2018. Even at his best, Gold Phoenix would be hard-pressed to win the Longines Turf based on Equibase Speed Figures. Likewise the average winning Beyer Speed Figure from 2014 through 2023 was 107.9 with a range of 104 for Bricks and Mortar in the 2019 Turf to a 114 for Enable in 2018. Gold Phoenix earned a 98 for his Del Mar Handicap win Saturday and his career-best Beyer Speed Figure is a 102. Again, the concern is that even at his best, Gold Phoenix just might not be fast enough.

Looking Ahead: Last year’s fast-closing fourth by Gold Phoenix in the Breeders’ Cup Turf really showed me something. Add in the fact that he loves the Del Mar Turf course and I can see the argument that the 2024 edition probably presents his best Breeders’ Cup chance. And, I do expect Gold Phoenix to run well.

Unfortunately, his best race might not be enough to win the Breeders’ Cup Turf, so while I’m buying Gold Phoenix’s chances to finish in the top three at a big price, I am selling him as a win candidate for one of the toughest races for a U.S.-based horse to win at the World Championships.