No matter what happens in the next three weeks, September 2024 will be a memorable month for owners Perry and Ramona Bass, Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella and everyone else involved with racehorses. Goliad .
Racing in the $1.8 million Mint Millions Stakes (G3T) on September 7, the fast horse won his second short race Kentucky Downs meet, leading from start to finish, just as he did six days earlier in the $481,200 Sticker Mule Overnight Handicap. Even his time for the mile on the grass was similar—1:33.38 after he ran 1:33.12 in the Sticker Mule on September 1.
At odds of 9-1, Goliad always looked like he would be hard to catch, running unchallenged in the lead under jockey Flavien Prat. Unchallenged for much of the Kentucky Downs stretch, he finished a length ahead of the finisher Cash Equity in a moment.
Goliad won the G3 Mint Millions for owners Perry Bass II and Ramona Bass. Richard Mandella trained the gelding, and Flavien Prat also entered. #KyDowns pic.twitter.com/ixFmUxN7Ia
— Kentucky Downs (@KYDownsRacing) September 7, 2024
“It was the first time I’d ridden him in a long time,” Prat said. “It felt like he was going easy. He’s a tough horse to ride, but what a great job Mandella did. The first part he was so easy and comfortable. Then you get about a furlong and he’ll get on the reins, and he’ll pick up the momentum. If you fight him, he’ll fight back. So I just tried to keep him happy. Honestly, at the eighth pole I was nervous because I knew they were coming. He just had the guts to win, to keep going.”
Popular Talk of the Nation won third place before Calculation force in fourth place.
Ancient Rome Last year’s winner, came in seventh.
The winner is one of three horses in the race on Saturday to make the second start of the competition. Equity cash and Ireland’s trump card (Friday) also returned after a short break.
Taylor Cambra, Mandella’s assistant trainer, said Goliad’s previous win at Kentucky Downs in an easier event “was like a breeze for him.”
“We wouldn’t have run him again if he wasn’t 100 percent,” Cambra continued. “He’s been great all the way to this race, to test it. We always knew he had talent. He’s good right now, and he loves this track. So we went ahead and took advantage of that.”
Cash Equity trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. added: “Here’s your new angle: bet on horses that will finish in six days.”
The published fractions in the race were :23.14, :44.92, 1:08 and 1:20.37.
Goliad returned $21.14 to win.
A 7 year old boy is being raised at home. War front out of Transformer mare Choreographer Goliad earned $1,195,200 for Saturday’s win. He earned $300,000 in the Sticker Mule. Goliad has won six of his 20 starts in his career and has earned $1,758,571.
Prior to his success at Kentucky Downs, his most important win came in February in the Thunder Road Stakes (G3T) at Santa Anita Park.
He was one of his mother’s five black horses. One of those black horses, Dance to town won the 2013 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf Stakes.
War Front, one of the top racehorses in North America, was at Claiborne Farm last season for a fee of $100,000.
Video: Mint Millions S. (G3T)
