Stay Gold (, March 24, 1994 – February 5, 2015) was a Japanese

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 Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

who had his greatest success in international races. He was sired by

Sunday Silence Sunday Silence (March 25, 1986 – August 19, 2002) was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In 1989, he won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes but failed to complete the Triple Crown when he was defeated in the Belmont ...

and was out of the mare Golden Sash by Dictus. Famously known as a "Silver Collector", running good results but unable win in major races, he eventually won the

Dubai Sheema Classic The Dubai Sheema Classic is a Group 1 flat horse race in the United Arab Emirates open to thoroughbreds which are four-years-old or above. It is run over a distance of 2,400 metres (approximately miles; 2410 metres since 2010) on the turf track at ...

and

Hong Kong Vase The Hong Kong Vase is a Group 1 flat horse race in Hong Kong which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run over a distance of 2,400 metres (about miles or 12 furlongs) at Sha Tin, and it is scheduled to take place each year ...

towards the end of his career. He is also a successful sire in Japan after his retirement from racing.

Early years

Stay Gold made his debut at

Hanshin Racecourse is located in Takarazuka, Hyogo, Japan. It has a capacity of 139,000 and it is used for horse racing. The land was originally owned by Kawanishi Aircraft Company, which manufactured combat planes during World War II. After the World War II, GH ...

on December 1, 1996 but it was more than a year before he won for the first time. On September 7, 1997, he won a minor race, the " Lake Akan-ko special()", and then did not win again for more than two years.

Silver collector

Between 1998 and 2000, Stay Gold ran prominently in many of Japan's top races, including the

Diamond Stakes The Diamond Stakes is a Listed flat horse race in Ireland open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Dundalk over a distance of 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 150 yards (2,149 metres), an ...

, Tenno Sho (Spring),

Takarazuka Kinen The Takarazuka Kinen (宝塚記念) is a Conditions races, Grade I Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Japan for three-year-old and above thoroughbreds where they run over a distance of 2,200 metres (approximately miles) at Hanshin Race ...

, Arima Kinen, and Tenno Sho (Autumn). He collected 9 places and 7 shows, but victory proved elusive. Although he didn't win any graded races, Stay Gold accumulated significant earnings. His title was "Major Racing Wins: Lake Akan-ko special" all the time, but had many other nicknames. He was called "the successor to Nice Nature," a Japanese race horse who won 6 graded races but was better known for his many placed efforts.

The biggest victory

On May 20, 2000, he was ridden by

Yutaka Take (born March 15, 1969 in Kyoto, Kyoto) is a Japanese jockey. A legend in Japan, Yutaka Take made his riding debut in 1987 and currently holds seven all-time records in his native country. Take has won at least one Grade 1 races for 23 straight ...

and in the Meguro Kinen and obtained victory for the first time in 2 years and 8 months. It was his only win of the year. In 2001, Stay Gold began with a win in the Grade II

Nikkei Shinshun Hai The Nikkei Shinshun Hai Japanese 日経新春杯} is a Japanese Grade 2 flat horse race in Japan for Thoroughbreds of at least four years of age. It is a handicap race run over a distance of 2,400 metres at Kyoto Racecourse in January. The Nikk ...

and was then aimed at the

(UAE-G2:then) at

Nad Al Sheba Racecourse Nad Al Sheba Racecourse was Thoroughbred horse racing facility in Dubai, United Arab Emirates opened in 1986. It had a 2,200 m left-handed dirt race track and a left-handed turf course of the same distance. It operated from November through March ...

Fantastic Light Fantastic Light (foaled February 13, 1996) is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse and pensioned sire (horse), sire. He was foaled in the United States but was trained in England and Dubai during his racing career, which ran from August 1998 to his ...

, winner of the previous year's World Series Racing Championship, was the clear favourite, with Stay Gold a 33-1 shot. Fantastic Light took the lead a furlong out, but Stay Gold rallied to get up on the line and win by a nose. It was the first victory outside Japan for Sunday Silence's progeny. In October, he took on two of Japan's best thoroughbreds,

T M Opera O T M Opera O ( ja, テイエムオペラオー, link=no, March 13, 1996 – May 2018) was a champion Japanese thoroughbred racehorse, and was the world's all-time leading money earner at the time of his retirement in 2001. In 1999, he was the ...

and Narita Top Road, in the

Kyoto Daishoten Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the city ...

and defeated them, only to be disqualified for interfering with Narita Top Road. His last run was

Sha Tin Racecourse Sha Tin Racecourse is one of the two racecourses for horse racing in Hong Kong. It is located in Sha Tin District, Sha Tin in the New Territories. It is managed by Hong Kong Jockey Club. Penfold Park is encircled by the track, and the Hon ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. Stay Gold caught

Ekraar Ekraar (foaled February 13, 1997) is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse. Racing career Ekraar was sired by Red Ransom, who was standing stud in the United States at the time. His dam was Sacahuista, who won the 1987 Breeders' Cup Dist ...

in the final strides and won by a head. After the race, Yutaka Take, who rode him, said, "Wings grew on his back." At the end of the season, the

Japan Racing Association The Japan Racing Association ( ja, 日本中央競馬会 Nippon Chūō Keiba Kai, or JRA) is a public company established to operate Chūō Keiba (中央競馬 Central horse racing) and to manage racecourses, betting facilities, and horse-training ...

gave Stay Gold the JRA Special Award for becoming the first overseas G1 race winner bred by Japanese farms. Although initially unplanned, fan outcry and a request from the JRA after his victory at Hong Kong led to Stay Gold's retirement ceremony being performed at

Kyoto Racecourse is located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It is used for horse racing. It has a capacity of 120,000. It was built in 1999. History Kyoto Race Course opened on December 1, 1925. In preparation for the track's 100th anniversary ...

on January 20, 2002. Stay Gold died suddenly on February 5, 2015.

Stud record

At the end of his racing career, Stay Gold was retired to become a breeding stallion and has proved to be a very successful sire of winners. When he was in Hong Kong, he wore a Zeichen written as "" in the

Chinese language Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the wor ...

. In

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, this

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

means "golden journey", a name which perfectly summaries his career. His progeny are sometimes named after words about trips or travel. One of these is Dream Journey, who won the Grade 1 Arima Kinen,

, and

Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes The Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes (朝日杯フューチュリティステークス) is a one mile turf stakes race for thoroughbred colts two years old. It is considered the ''de facto'' year-end championship for Japanese thoroughbred racing in the t ...

Major winners

''c =

colt Colt(s) or COLT may refer to: *Colt (horse), an intact (uncastrated) male horse under four years of age People * Colt (given name) *Colt (surname) Places *Colt, Arkansas, United States *Colt, Louisiana, an unincorporated community, United States ...

, f =

filly A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...

Pedigree

Notes

External links

Stay Gold wins Dubai Sheema Classic

Stay Gold wins Hong Kong Vase
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stay Gold (Horse) 1994 racehorse births 2015 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Japan Racehorses trained in Japan Thoroughbred family 1-t