Giacomo (foaled February 16, 2002 in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

) is a champion American

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorse who won the 2005 Kentucky Derby at 50–1 odds.

Background

The

gray Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

stallion is owned by his

breeder A breeder is a person who selectively breeds carefully selected mates, normally of the same breed to sexually reproduce offspring with specific, consistently replicable qualities and characteristics. This might be as a farmer, agriculturalist, ...

, Jerry Moss, who may be better known for co-founding

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

with

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

Herb Alpert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the ...

. Giacomo was named after the son of Sting. Giacomo's dam

Set Them Free {{Infobox racehorse , horsename = Set Them Free , image = , caption = , sire = Stop The Music , grandsire = Hail To Reason , dam = Valseuse , damsire = Tyrant , sex = Mare , foaled = {{birth date, 1990, 02, 11 , death_date = {{death d ...

also produced Tiago. Giacomo was trained during his racing career by

John Shirreffs John A. Shirreffs (born June 1, 1945, in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. Based in California, Vietnam War veteran John Shirreffs began training Thoroughbreds in 1978. He has won a number of stakes races ...

Racing career

Giacomo, ridden by

Mike E. Smith Michael Earl Smith (born August 10, 1965) is an American jockey who has been one of the leading riders in U.S. Thoroughbred racing since the early 1990s, was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2003, and has won the ...

won the 2005 Kentucky Derby in a time of 2:02.75. At odds of 50–1, Giacomo stands as tied, with

Mine That Bird Mine That Bird (foaled May 10, 2006) is a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2009 Kentucky Derby at 50-1 odds and came second in the Preakness Stakes and third in the Belmont Stakes. He had earnings of $2,228,637 and was inducte ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, for the fourth-biggest longshot ever to win the Derby, trailing only

Country House (horse) Country House (foaled May 8, 2016) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2019 Kentucky Derby after the disqualification of Maximum Security. Country House's win came as result of an objection call from jockey Flavien Prat. Even t ...

, at 65–1 in 2019, Rich Strike at 80-1 in 2022, and

Donerail Donerail (1910 – after 1918) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that was the upset winner of the 1913 Kentucky Derby. His win stands as the biggest longshot victory in the history of the Kentucky Derby. Going off at 91–1, Donerail pro ...

, who went off at 91–1 in 1913. Giacomo's owner received a first-place check of $1,639,600 for the victory, the largest in Kentucky Derby history. Giacomo finished third in the

2005 Preakness Stakes The 2005 Preakness Stakes was the 130th running of the Preakness Stakes thoroughbred horse race. The race took place on May 21, 2005, and was televised in the United States on the NBC television network. Afleet Alex, who was jockeyed by Jeremy Ros ...

behind the favorite, Afleet Alex. He finished seventh in the 2005

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed Th ...

, again behind the favored Afleet Alex; Smith said after the race that the horse had breathing problems. Giacomo continued to race after his disappointing Belmont finish. In his first race back, he finished third in the Strub Stakes at

Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races ...

. After that, he was raced in the prestigious

Grade I In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Santa Anita Handicap The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in early March at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses four years old and up and was once considered the most important race for old ...

, where he finished 5th and was never a threat. After a four-month layoff, Giacomo won the July 22, 2006,

San Diego Handicap The San Diego Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in late July/early August at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. This Grade II race is open to horses, age three and up, willing to race one and one-sixteenth miles o ...

by a head. The victory was followed by a 5th in the Pacific Classic Stakes and a show in the Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap, where Giacomo lost to Lava Man for the 3rd time in 4 races. Despite the fact that Giacomo had only won two stakes races, he was entered in the 2006

Breeders' Cup Classic The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3-year-olds and older run at a distance of on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships in late October o ...

field, where he faced Lava Man as well as other top horses such as

Bernardini Bernadini can mean: * Bernardini (horse), thoroughbred race horse, at Darley Stable in Kentucky * Bernardini (company), safe manufacturer which operated from 1912 to 1992 * Bernardini (surname), family name of Italian origin See also * Bern ...

and the eventual winner, Invasor. Giacomo finished fourth.

Stud record

After the Breeders' Cup, it was announced that Giacomo would be retired to stud at Adena Springs in

. In November 2015, Oakhurst Thoroughbreds announced Giacomo would stand at stud at their facility in Newberg, Oregon, making Giacomo the second

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...

winner to stand at stud in Oregon (along with

Grindstone A grindstone, also known as grinding stone, is a sharpening stone used for grinding or sharpening ferrous tools, used since ancient times. Tools are sharpened by the stone's abrasive qualities that remove material from the tool through friction ...

Pedigree

References

External links

NTRA bio
{{Kentucky Derby Winners 2002 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Kentucky Derby winners Thoroughbred family 2-d