NETRC News
 
 
May 26, 2011, 12:30 PM
The Long, Steady Decline of Stream of Gold
 
By ALEX BROWN
 
On Saturday, Stream of Gold is entered for a $5,000 claiming race at Fairmount Park, in Collinsville, Ill. At first glance this would appear to be a normal entry in a normal horse race in North America. So why is this noteworthy? Stream of Gold has a history (view past performances here).
Bred in Ireland, this 10-year-old gelding won three of his first five starts in England, including the Lincoln Handicap in 2005 where he beat 21 other runners. Campaigned in graded stakes after that win (fourth, fourth and fourth), he was then sent to the United Arab Emirates where his career seemed to founder.
Stream of Gold then came to the United States and his career took a significant upswing; he won a Grade II stakes in 2008 and was the favorite to beat Einstein in the Grade I Gulfstream Park Turf. Einstein won that race, Dancing Forever was second and Stream of Gold was third.
Five months after that Grade I race, Stream of Gold was claimed for $60,000, in a race in which he won. By this point he had made about $700,000 for his connections. Since that race Stream of Gold has run 10 times and has not won. On Saturday it will be his third start in a little over three weeks. For $5,000 this horse can be claimed and retired. Surely he has served our sport well, both in the United States, in Europe and in the United Arab Emirates. This horse deserves our support.