Throw Out the Records When Kona Gold Runs

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. -- Kona Gold, the remarkable gelding, will grab a record-book paragraph all by himself just for showing up for Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Arlington Park. But if the 8-year-old wins the Sprint for a second time, they’ll need an entire page to catalog the achievement.

By running, Kona Gold will be making his fifth Breeders’ Cup appearance, which shunts aside the only other four-timers -- Precisionist, Pleasant Tap, El Senor and Affirmed Success -- in the 18-year history of the series. Kona Gold can add distinction to longevity with a second victory. The only other dual winners in the Breeders’ Cup have been Miesque, who won the Mile in 1987 and ‘88; Bayakoa, the 1989 and ’90 Distaff winner; Lure, Mile winner in 1992 and ‘93; Da Hoss, Mile winner in 1996 and ‘98, and Tiznow, who won the Classic in 2000 and ’01.

None of those repeat winners, however, was 8 years old, or even close. Horses of Kona Gold’s vintage seldom run in these races, and the oldest Breeders’ Cup winners have been Cardmania and Elmhurst, 7-year-olds who were Sprint victors , in 1993 and 1997.

Kona Gold might be heard from in one other category: the layoff time between a horse’s last prep race and a Breeders’ Cup win. In what is arguably the best Breeders’ Cup training job ever, Ross Fenstermaker ran Precisionist on June 23, 1985, and 131 days later won the Sprint with the versatile colt. Kona Gold hasn’t run since July 6, meaning there will be 111 days between races. A win Saturday moves trainer Bruce Headley’s horse into second place on the layoff list.

The oddsmakers are suggesting that Headley is asking too much of Kona Gold this time. The Daily Racing Form’s early line for the six-furlong race has the horse at 8-1, the fourth choice behind Orientate, Xtra Heat and Swept Overboard. Orientate has never been better, having notched four convincing wins at six or 6 1/2 furlongs in the last four months. Xtra Heat, a $5,000 auction purchase two years ago, has won 24 of 31 starts, earned $2.2 million and ran second to Squirtle Squirt in last year’s Sprint. Swept Overboard, while unable to win at the Sprint distance this year, was fourth, beaten by just a length, in the Breeders’ Cup last year.

“The filly [Xtra Heat] scares me,” Headley said. “She’s a very honest horse. But there’s a lot of speed in this race, and that should keep her busy early. And don’t forget, I’m running another horse [the 6-year-old mare Kalookan Queen] in this race. I look for Kalookan Queen to hook up with Xtra Heat on the [far] turn, and Kona Gold should be coming on late.”

Since Headley bought Kona Gold at a Keeneland auction for $35,000 in 1995, the son of Java Gold and Double Sunrise, a Slew o’ Gold mare, has won 13 races, run second seven times and third once in 25 races, earning $2.1 million for Headley, Irwin Molasky and his son Andrew. That’s not much running for an old-timer, but Kona Gold required knee surgery and Headley didn’t get a chance to run him until May 1998, when he was a 4-year-old. Five months later, Kona was off to the races with his astonishing Breeders’ Cup run. He won the Sprint in 2000, after a third in 1998 and a second in 1999, and he was seventh, four lengths behind Squirtle Squirt last year. Here’s the way those races played out:

Churchill Downs, 1998--Kona Gold was an unknown quantity, so undistinguished in fact, that Headley wasn’t sure they would get into the race until a few scratches moved them up off the also-eligible list. Kona Gold’s trip from California to Kentucky was late and not exactly first class -- he arrived in Louisville on a freight plane hired just a couple of days before the race. Reraise led all the way to win, with Kona Gold losing by slightly more than two lengths.

“He was an unseasoned horse,” Headley said. “How many career races had he had? [Five.] He did quite well, considering he was awful short on experience.”

Gulfstream Park, 1999--The ground broke out from under Kona Gold, causing him and jockey Alex Solis to bump the horse inside them, and Solis had to check his mount behind horses heading into the stretch. Artax had to reach the wire in a blazing 1:07 4/5 -- matching the track record -- to beat Kona Gold by half a length.

Churchill Downs, 2000--Kona Gold sat just off Caller One, who was sizzling through the opening half-mile in 43 2/5 seconds. Caller One gave up the lead a sixteenth of a mile from the finish, then Kona Gold had enough left to withstand the filly Honest Lady by half a length. Kona Gold finished in 1:07 3/5.

“He not only broke the Breeders’ Cup record,” Headley said, “he also broke Churchill’s for six furlongs. This was sure a race to remember.”

Belmont Park, 2001--Raising concerns that his best races were behind him, Kona Gold never threatened as he finished worse than fifth for the first time. Three weeks before, he had finished second to Swept Overboard in the Ancient Title Handicap at Santa Anita.

“It’s Monday-morning quarterbacking,” Headley said, “but I think the Ancient Title took a lot out of both horses. We both bounced in the Breeders’ Cup.”

This year, Headley skipped the Ancient Title, run on Oct. 5, with Kona Gold, but won the stake with Kalookan Queen as she convinced her owner, Luis Asistio, that she belonged in Saturday’s race. Headley hadn’t planned to bring the mare here, but he’s not kicking and screaming.

“I thought the Ancient Title took a lot out of her, just like it did Kona the year before, but I could be wrong. You can’t deny the man what might be his one chance to win a Breeders’ Cup race.”

Kona Gold has run only twice this year, winning the Los Angeles Handicap at Hollywood Park on June 2 and finishing sixth in the Triple Bend Handicap at Hollywood Park on July 6. Headley would have liked one more race -- at Del Mar -- for Kona Gold, but the horse’s legs were badly cut in the Triple Bend. Headley blames jockey Pat Valenzuela -- who was aboard second-place finisher D’Wildcat -- for crowding his horse into the fence that day.

“The cuts were significant,” Headley said. “I had to make sure they didn’t get infected and missed a lot of training time.”

Still, Headley believes his horse has one more big race in him.

“He runs well fresh, and he’s a great workout horse,” the trainer said. “He worked [three furlongs] in 34 [seconds] flat the other day, and before that he had a series of great works -- three 57s [for five furlongs] and a couple of 58s. I think I’ve got quite a 1-2 punch in this one.”