was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse. His main victory was at the 1986 Hanshin Sansai Stakes, and he placed 2nd at the 1987 Satsuki Sho and Kikuka Sho.
Background Gold City was foaled on April 16, 1984, at Shigekuni Tanaka’s ranch in Monbetsu, Hokkaido. He inherited the characteristics of his sire, Viceregal, who died 13 days after his birth, and had a “tail-flower chestnut” with a golden mane and tail. According to Tanaka, Gold City possessed an excellent physique and “exuded an air of being born to run," but his temperament was also similar to that of Viceregal in that he was extremely spirited.
He was named “Gold City” because of his golden coat, and in the spring of 1986, when he reached the racing age of three, he came under the care of Izumi Shimizu, who had just opened a stable at the Ritto Training Center in Shiga Prefecture. Regarding her first impression, Shimizu stated, “I thought this horse would either achieve tremendous success or his career would end quickly—it was one or the other. I had a vague feeling that this horse’s entire life would hinge on whether his fiery temperament worked for or against him." Furthermore, upon his arrival at the stable, there was reportedly talk that “if he didn’t run very well, we’d donate him to Disneyland or somewhere to be used for riding lessons."
Racing career
1986: three-year-old season On June 15, he made his debut in a maiden race at Sapporo Racecourse. Ridden by Masaru Honda, he was the third favorite, but he got off to a slow start and had to race from the back of the pack; despite closing strongly in the home stretch, he finished fifth. After finishing second in his next race, he claimed his first victory in his third start. At the end of July, he made his first graded stakes appearance in the Sapporo Nisai Stakes. Although he showed signs of intense restlessness in the paddock, he closed from the back of the field to finish second. Reflecting on the race, Honda stated, “Even though we finished second, he showed me he has a competitive spirit. Depending on how I ride him, I think he could compete with the top horses, so I’m looking forward to what lies ahead."
In September, he claimed his second victory in the Cosmos Sho, an open race, and on December 14, he competed in the Hanshin 3-Year-Old Stakes, the Kansai region’s championship race for 3-year-olds. He was the third favorite on race day. Even before the start, Honda remarked that he was “barely managing to stay in the saddle," and once the race began, the horse showed signs of wanting to move forward, unable to tolerate the slow pace. He took the lead entering the final turn, and after pulling completely away, the horse began to lose focus and nearly slowed down; however, when the two horses behind him closed in, he surged forward again, and the three crossed the finish line neck-and-neck. Following a photo finish, Gold City was declared the winner by a head over the second-place finisher, Sankin Hayate. This marked the first Group 1 victory for the jockey, trainer, owner, and breeding farm alike.
With this victory, the horse concluded the season and entered a rest period in preparation for the following year’s Classic campaign. In the 3-year-old category of the annual awards, the votes were split. Although Gold City received the third-highest number of votes—behind Kanto’s 3-year-old champion Merry Nice and Hokuto Helios, who had lost to Merry Nice in the Asahi Hai 3-Year-Old Stakes but had won two graded stakes races—he was jointly selected with Merry Nice as the Outstanding 3-Year-Old Colt on the grounds that “there was insufficient data to compare horses from the East and West, making it difficult to narrow it down to a single horse.”
1987: four-year-old season The 1987 season began with the Spring Stakes. Although Merry Nice also competed in this race, Material who was regarded as a horse with great potential, was the favorite. In the paddock, Gold City became so agitated that fans couldn’t help but chuckle; in the race, he finished sixth, 0.6 seconds behind Material, who had surged from the very back of the pack to overtake every other horse en route to victory.
The Satsuki Sho, held on April 19, featured a rare lineup not seen since 1955, with Gold City being the only horse from the Kansai region among the 20 entrants. Material was the favorite, while Sakura Star O who had won the preliminary Yayoi Sho was the second favorite; Gold City’s odds had dropped significantly to 11th favorite. He had suffered from colic four days before the race and was not in good condition, appearing unusually subdued in the paddock as well. In the race, he ran in second-to-last position, keeping Sakura Star O and Material in his sights until the final stretch. He then moved up in sync with Sakura Star O’s pace; although he couldn’t quite catch up to Sakura Star O, who surged ahead in the home stretch, he charged down the far outside to win the battle for second place, finishing second by a head over Material. Honda remarked, “The speed he showed at the end was breathtakingly sharp. If he’d been in peak condition, it would have been an even closer race,” Honda remarked.
Ahead of his second major title, the Tokyo Yushun, Sakura Star O was sidelined after developing suspensory ligament inflammation in both front legs. In contrast to his performance in the Satsuki Sho, Gold City was in the best condition of his career, raising the team’s hopes for a Derby victory. On race day, May 31, he was the second favorite. Material was the top favorite for the second time in a row following the Satsuki Sho, but the horse had lost 16 kg since his previous race and was not in top form. Seeing this, Honda reportedly felt, “We probably don’t need to race with Material in mind. One strong rival is out of the picture." When the race began, Gold City settled into the middle of the pack. He briefly moved up toward the front coming out of the second turn, but at the exit of the backstretch, he fell into his bad habit of losing focus, slowed down, and dropped back to fifth from the rear. In the final straight, he made a sharp charge from the rear, but finished fourth behind Merry Nice, who won by six lengths. Material finished 18th.
After the race, Gold City’s drop in position during the race was interpreted as “marking Material too closely,” and Honda’s riding was criticized. In response, Honda countered “I wasn’t even thinking about Material before the race even started. Just by looking at his physique, I could tell he was out of form—I think any jockey would have sensed that. It’s unbearable to be misunderstood like that,” and reflected, “I was so angry at the time that I decided right then and there, ‘I’ll never ride a horse owned by Gold City’s owner again.”
After the Derby, the horse spent the summer resting and made his comeback in September at the Kobe Shimbun Hai. The jockey was changed from Honda to Shigetoshi Saruhashi. Although the horse maintained third place throughout the race, he was unable to catch the winner, Max Beauty, or the front-runner, Hide Ryu O, and finished in third place. In the subsequent Kyoto Shimbun Hai, he veered wide immediately after the start, causing Million Casper to fall. Although he crossed the finish line in third place, two and a half lengths behind the winner, Leo Tenzan, he was disqualified. At the same time, Saruhashi was handed a six-day suspension, preventing him from riding in the Kikuka-shō. For the Kikuka-shō, he was partnered by a new jockey, Hiroshi Kawachi, one of Kansai’s top riders, and was backed as the second favorite behind Merry Nice on race day. In the race, he settled into a good position in fifth or sixth place throughout the race and entered the final straight, but Sakura Star O who was making his first start since the Satsuki Sho broke away first, and Gold City finished second, falling half a length short of the winner.
In December, he competed in the Naruo Kinen. He was backed as the favorite for the first time in a graded stakes race but finished sixth. The winner of that race was Tamamo Cross, a horse from the same crop who did not compete in the Triple Crown races.
1988–1989: five & six-year-old seasons From 1988 onward, he ran seven races. His best finishes were third-place finishes in the Kyoto Daishoten and the Sankei Osaka Hai, with Honda back in the saddle. He retired from racing after finishing 10th in the 1989 Takarazuka Kinen.
Racing record The following form is based on information from JBIS-Search and netkeiba. DateTrackNameGradeFieldFav.FinishedDistanceTimeJockeyWinner (2nd place)1986 – two-year-old season Sapporo Three-year-old Newcomer 10 3 5th Dirt 1000m 1:03.0 Masaru Honda Miho Best Sapporo Three-year-old Newcomer 6 3 Dirt 1200m 1:14.4 Masaru Honda Kyoei Yuki Sapporo Three-year-old Maiden 9 1 Dirt 1200m 1:13.9 Masaru Honda (Tone Komichi) Sapporo Sapporo Sansai Stakes G3 12 7 Dirt 1200m 1:13.4 Masaru Honda Gal Dancer Hakodate Cosmos Sho OP 9 6 Turf 1700m 1:45.6 Masaru Honda Tokino Carol Hanshin Hanshin Sansai Stakes G1 8 3 Turf 1600m 1:37.1 Masaru Honda (Sankin Hayate)1987 – three-year-old season Nakayama Spring Stakes G2 12 5 6th Turf 1800m 1:49.9 Masaru Honda Material Nakayama Satsuki Sho G1 20 11 Turf 2000m 2:02.3 Masaru Honda Sakura Star O Tokyo Tōkyō Yūshun G1 24 2 4th Turf 2400m 2:28.9 Masaru Honda Merry Nice Hanshin Kobe Shimbun Hai G2 8 4 Turf 2000m 2:03.0 Shigetoshi Saruhashi Max Beauty Kyoto Kyoto Shimbun Hai G2 12 2 DQ Turf 2000m 2:16.8 Shigetoshi Saruhashi Leo Tenzan Kyoto Kikuka Sho G1 18 2 Turf 3000m 3:08.1 Hiroshi Kawachi Sakura Star O Hanshin Naruo Kinen G2 13 1 6th Turf 2500m 2:34.4 Hiroshi Kawachi Tamamo Cross1988 – four-year-old season Hanshin Sankei Osaka Hai G2 12 3 4th Turf 2000m 2:02.0 Hiroshi Kawachi Fresh Voice Kyoto Tenno Sho (Spring) G1 18 3 5th Turf 3200m 3:23.7 Hiroshi Kawachi Tamamo Cross Kyoto Kyoto Daishoten G2 8 3 Turf 2000m 2:27.6 Masaru Honda Meisho Eikan Tokyo Japan Cup G1 14 13 12th Turf 2400m 2:26.9 Masaru Honda Pay the Butler1989 – five-year-old season Hanshin Sankei Osaka Hai G2 13 7 Turf 2000m 2:02.1 Masaru Honda Yaeno Muteki Kyoto Tenno Sho (Spring) G1 18 6 11th Turf 3200m 3:21.0 Masaru Honda Inari One Hanshin Takarazuka Kinen G1 16 11 10th Turf 2200m 2:15.7 Masaru Honda Inari One
Retirement & death After retiring from racing, Gold City was transferred to the Miyazaki Racecourse (later the JRA Miyazaki Training Farm), owned by the Japan Racing Association to be used as a riding horse. Given his outstanding record as a racehorse, those involved had high hopes that he would excel as a show jumper; however, he was unable to get along with the other horses and repeatedly got into fights in the pasture. Then, about half a year later, on May 1, 1990, he was found standing in the pasture with his right front leg raised off the ground. A veterinarian administered first aid, but X-rays taken the following day, revealed a fracture of the right forearm bone with a poor prognosis, and he was euthanized on May 2. He died at the age of 7. No one witnessed the moment of the fracture, and those involved considered various possibilities—such as “he fell while provoking another horse and trying to flee,” “he was kicked by another horse,” or “he collided with a fence”—but were unable to reach a conclusion.
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