Gold Street Leads Throughout in Smarty Jones

Speed and an affinity for racing on wet tracks proved a winning combination for Gold Street in the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes Jan. 24 on opening day at Oaklawn Park.

Coming off consecutive victories on sloppy surfaces at Churchill Downs and Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, the 3-year-old colt handled a muddy strip at Oaklawn with similar aplomb. Busting out in front under California transplant Martin Garcia, he set relatively uncontested splits of :24.08, :48.96, and 1:13.72. With plenty left in his tank when cut loose midway on the second turn, Gold Street pulled clear from eight rivals over the final quarter-mile and scored by 2 3/4 lengths over 2-1 favorite Three Technique, who bid from a stalking position but couldn't challenge the winner.

"We can't make it rain, but he does take advantage of it when it happens," Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen said.

Gold Street, who raced the mile in 1:39.63, gave Asmussen, a winner of more than 1,000 stakes races, his first victory in the Smarty Jones in its 13th running.

Two of Asmussen's other three starters also ran well, with Remington Springboard Mile Stakes winner Shoplifted finishing third and Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) winner Silver Prospector rallying belatedly for fourth. Only 56-1 longshot Jungle Runner was a nonfactor for him, checking in eighth.

"Gold Street had the most speed today," said Asmussen, who believed the wet racetrack favored frontrunners. "Obviously, we still have very high hopes for several of them, and it does change considerably when the races go further."

Video: Smarty Jones S. (BT)

The top four finishers in the Smarty Jones earned points on a 10-4-2-1 scale toward a start in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1). Derby points are used to determine preference when the 1 1/4-mile race is oversubscribed beyond its 20-horse maximum field size.

Routing was a question for Gold Street ($22.80) heading into the Smarty Jones—he made five starts in races at six furlongs or shorter—but he had no issues handling the added ground. He won by a large margin, just as he had in the Dec. 21 Sugar Bowl Stakes at Fair Grounds in his previous start.

The distances for the remaining Derby preps at Oaklawn are longer than the Smarty Jones, which is also run over a short stretch, beginning and ending at what is customarily the sixteenth pole. The next race in the series is the $750,000 Southwest Stakes (G3) at 1 1/16 miles Feb. 17, followed by the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) Mar. 14 and finishing with the $1 million Arkansas Derby (G1) at 1 1/8 miles Apr. 11.

Bred in Kentucky by Erich Brehm, Gold Street is a son of sprinter Street Boss  out of the stakes-placed Fusaichi Pegasus mare Morakami. He is the first black-type winner for his dam, who foaled a pair of stakes-placed runners in Oh Marvelous Me (by Bluegrass Cat), third in the Longacres Mile Handicap (G3) in 2018, and Overthinking (by Overanalyze), second in last year's CTT and TOC Stakes at Del Mar going 1 3/8 miles on grass.

Gold Street was a $150,000 purchase by owner Mike McCarty at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale from the St George Sales consignment. He was bought for $55,000 as a short yearling by James Bredin Bloodstock, acting as agent for David A. Ross, when consigned by Abbie Road Farm at the Ocala Breeders' Sales 2018 Winter Mixed Sale.

He has now surpassed his purchase price in earnings, making $225,218 in winning three of six starts.