Rinaldo Del Gallo, III
By: Rinaldo Del Gallo, III
When most Americans think of MEDAGLIA D’ORO (USA) dkb/br. H, 1999 {9-b}, we think of the great racing fillies RACHEL ALEXANDRA (USA) b. M, 2006 {1-o} or SONGBIRD (USA) dkb/br. M, 2013 {4-d} or ELATE (USA) dkb/br. M, 2014 {1-x}, or BAR OF GOLD (USA) dkb/br. M, 2012 {19}(Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint) or NEW MONEY HONEY (USA) b. M, 2014 {3-o}(Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf and Belmont Oaks) or PLUM PRETTY (USA) b. M, 2008 {8-g}(Kentucky Oaks and many other stakes). Or maybe you think of the Breeders’ Cup Turf winning TALISMANIC (GB) dkb/br. H, 2013 {2-f}. You might think of MSHAWISH (USA) dkb/br. H, 2010 {8-h}, a horse that won Grade 1’s on the turf and on the dirt.
You might also think of Medaglia D’Oro as being a sire of sires. I see 21 stallions that were sired by Medaglia D’Oro at the bloodhorse.com stallion register. The absolutely idiotically named VIOLENCE (USA) dkb/br. H, 2010 {1-g} stands for $50,000. Let’s just say the name is not a great public relations coup. Given the stupidity of Violence’s name, one of his sons was aptly named WHATWASITHINKING (USA) ch. G, 2015 {14-f}, for there was little thinking when the horse’s sire was being named. BOLT D’ORO (USA) b. H, 2015 {13-c}, the 2022 Champion freshmen sire stands for $35,000. HIGHER POWER (USA) b. H, 2015 {A29} stands for $10,000.
How did Medaglia D’Oro get his name? When I went to Saratoga to see Rachel Alexandra run in the 2009 Whitney, my father—Rinaldo Del Gallo, Junior who spoke fluent Italian—told me that the name means “medal of gold” in Italian. (I am the third, my son the fourth.) “Oro” means “gold” in Italian. It was a great time, but my dad would not bet on the Woodward because he really wanted to be on Rachel Alexanadra, but she was paying so damn little—he wasn’t off, she barely won the race. She went off at 1-4 and won by only a desperate neck–not what you want a 1-4 horse to do. Dad was smart.
Rachel Alexandra wins the Woodward
The whole “gold” thing was in “Bend Or,” a very famous stallion that is Medaglia D’Oro’s 11th sire in tail male, and undoubtedly in his pedigree over and over again, such was Bend Or’s extensive influence. “Or” meant “gold” and the “bend” was a heraldry thing. The “bend” was the slash across the emblem. One Bend Or offspring kept the heraldry thing going by the name of BEND SINISTER (GB) br. M, 1895 {14-f} (the left leaning slash, left = sinister), but the gold theme was very popular. 30 offspring of Bend Or have the name “gold” in the name.
Woodcote stakes winner FAIRY GOLD (GB) ch. M, 1896 {9-e} is the daughter of Bend Or. Fair Gold is the dam of immensely influential FAIR PLAY (USA) ch. H, 1905 {9-e}, his full brother FLITTERGOLD (USA) b. H, 1911 {9-e}(the “gold” theme continues), and the half-brother FRIAR ROCK (USA) ch. H, 1913 {9-e}( won Belmont Stakes, Brooklyn H., Suburban H., Saratoga Cup at 3, Adirondack S., Whirl S. in a new track record at 2.)
Fairy Gold had a daughter GOLDEN VIEW (USA) ch. M, 1906 {9-e}(yes, the gold thing again), who was a fully to Fair Play and Flittergold. Golden View had a multiple stakes winning son ROCK VIEW (USA) b. H, 1910 {9-e}, sired by Rock Sand, and was named from the “Rock” of “Rock Sand” the view of “Golden View.” Golden View ended up being the 9th dam of multiple Grade 1 winner CLASSY CATHY (USA) dkb/br. M, 1983 {9-e}. Along that tail female path there was one horse after another with the gold them. Golden View’s daughter was GOLDING (FR) b. M, 1915 {9-e}. Golding’s daughter was GOLDEN FAIR (USA) br. M, 1925 {9-e}, whose despite her less than spectacular race record was mated to Man O’War to produce GOLDEN MANDA (USA) br. M, 1937 {9-e}, to now have a double dose of that Fairy Gold blood. Golden Fair had 11 children who all had “Golden” as the first half of their names (two stakes winners, providing a golden opportunity to learn something about how racehorses are named. Golden’s Fair daughter GOLD SEEKER (USA) br. M, 1933 {9-e} won the Gazelle and was 3rd in the Santa Anita Derby: Gold Seeker was to have 7 offspring, 6 with the word “gold” in it.
Consider the first Canadian Triple Crown winner (though not formally recognized then), QUEENSWAY (CAN) ch. M, 1929 {14-a}. Here sire was Carter handicap winning OLD KOENIG (USA) b. H, 1913 {4-r}. Old Koening’s sire was multiple stakes winner GOLDEN MAXIM (USA) b. H, 1900 {11}(the “Maxim” was from his dam and damsire). Golden Maxim sire was GOLDEN GARTER (GB) ch. H, 1888 {2-g}, who was a product of the mating of the extremely important mare SANDA (GB) ch. M, 1878 {2-g} with Bend Or.
GOLD BRIDGE (FR) ch. H, 1929 {22-d}, sire of the influential ROUGH SHOD (GB) b. M, 1944 {5-h} has a golden bath in his pedigree. Gold Bridge’s sire GOLDEN BOSS (IRE) ch. H, 1920 {19} (Kingstand twice), GOLDEN HEN (GB) b. M, 1901 {19} (three of her four offspring had “gold” in the name), who’s dam was CHEVELE D’OR (GB) ch. H, 1893 {4-a} to Bend Or. I am not sure what Chevele D’or means, but my research suggests it might translate to “golden hair.” Rough Shod is the fourth dam of SADLERS WELLS (USA) b. H, 1981 {5-h}, who is the third sire of Medaglia d’Oro. Rough Shod is also the the third dam of the also highly influential NUREYEV (USA) b. H, 1977 {5-h}, and the second dam of THATCH (USA) b. H, 1970 {5-h}.
https://en.bab.la/dictionary/french-english/cheveux-d-or
But back to Medaglia D’Oro. Now Medaglia D’Oro literally means “gold medal,” as my father taught me that day we saw Rachel Alexandra beat the older boys in the Woodward at Saratoga. As it turns out there is a fairly popular coffee called Medaglia D’Oro that features pictures of golden medals on the label. I know it might sound farfetched that Medaglia D’Oro would be named after a brand of coffee instead of a “gold medal,” but his dam is CAPPUCINO BAY (USA) dkb/br. M, 1989 {9-b}, and now that you have had a golden opportunity to see how racehorses are named, you would correctly be thinking that that was not such a farfetched theory after all. Cappuccino is a coffee drink.
Medaglia D’Oro has five horses with the “coffee” in the name, including millionaire, multi-stakes winner, and Grade 1 winner COFFEE CLIQUE (USA) b. M, 2010 {9-f}. Five of his progenies have “café” in the name. A number of horses have he “d’oro” theme such as CAPPO D’ORO (AUS) br. G, 2012 {10-a} (listed stakes winner, multiple graded stakes placed), BOLT D’ORO (USA) b. H, 2015 {13-c}(won two Grade 1’s at 2, 3rd in Breeders Cup Juvenile). (Does the name mean Bolt of gold?).
But about 181 of Medaglia D’Oro’s offspring have the word “Gold” in them. Which brings me to Medaglia D’Oro’s gelded son GOLDEN SIXTY (AUS) br. G, 2015 {22-b}. Golden Sixty’s dam is GAUDEAMUS (USA) b. M, 2004 {22-b}, a horse that won the Grade 2 Debutante stakes in Ireland at age two and was shipped off to Australia where she was mated to Medaglia d’Oro. “Gaudeamus” is Latin for “let us rejoice” and a there are few songs on YouTube featuring that name.
Gaudeamus Song
While I will be happy and rejoice for the name “Gaudeamus,” I have no bloody idea what it has to do with sixty, so “Golden Sixty” will be a name with a little bit of mystery—I possibly get where the “Golden” comes from, that is I think I know but have uncertainty, but not the “sixty.” You would think “Golden” in “Golden Sixty” might come from Medaglia d’Oro, but that may not be the case. Golden Sixty’s owner, Stanley Chan Ka Leung, according to the Hong Kong jockeys’ club website, has a number of horses with “golden” in their name: GOLDEN SAMURAI G, 2018 {9-e}(Medaglia d’Oro damsire), GOLDEN CANNON (AUS) b. G, 2011 {13-a}, GOLDEN GUNNERS (USA) dkb/br. G, 2009 {14-c}, and partially owned by Stanley Chan Ka Leung, GOLDEN PISTOLS (AUS) b. G, 2004 {19-b}. So, it might just be that C has a thing for “Golden” and his names have nothing to do with the horse’s sire or damsire, and maybe that he named a horse “Golden Sixty” had nothing to do with Medaglio D’oro—I just don’t know.
Hong Kong Jockey clubs page for owner Stanley Chan Ka Leung.
What I do know is that Golden Sixty is a heck of a gelding, I believe that although there is very strong competition for best child of Medaglia d’Oro, this horse that races on the other side of the world is Medaglia d’Oro’s best runner.
Consider this:
1. Golden Sixty has raced 28 times, and won 24 times, has 2 places, was third once, and was off the board only once.
2. This Saturday, when he won the Grade 1 Hong Kong Gold Cup in Hong Kong on Saudi Cup Day, he won his 8th Group 1—it was a million and half dollar race at 2,000 meters (about 1 ¼ miles) at Sha Tin. He won the same race in 2021. The tough Golden Sixty won this year after being third last year. Apart from his 8 Group 1 victories, he has won 3 Group 2 races, and 3 Group 3 races.
3. Golden Sixty has won HK$136,530,600 which is roughly $17,397,002 in United States dollars. By contrast, according to Equibase, Arrogate has earned $17,422,600, Thunder Snow $16,511,476, and Mishriff $16,034,853. Golden Sixty is just not listed, but if Equibase numbers are correct, Golden Sixty may have more winnings than any American horse in history. If Winx earned Australian $26,306,670, that would be about $17,707,019.58. So Golden Sixty’s earnings are up there with the richest racehorses of history. For some reason, Golden Sixty does not seem to make a lot of official lists. But if Golden Sixty’s lifetime earnings are $136,530,600 in Hong Kong dollars, using an exchange rate of .12742 (provided by wise.com on February 26, 2023), $17,397,002 is about the size of his earnings. Hong Kong does have rich purses. For instance, the winner of the mile earns HK $14250000 which is $1,815,664 in US dollars. Golden Sixty won this race in 2020 and 2021 and was 2nd in 2022.
https://www.equibase.com/stats/ViewAllTime.cfm?tf=all-time&tb=horse&vb=E
https://www.thoroughbredracing.com/articles/2720/worlds-all-time-highest-earning-thoroughbred-racehorses/
4. Golden Sixty won 16 races in a row!
Golden Sixty wins the 2021 Hong Kong Mile for his 16th straight victory!
5. Golden Sixty has more wins than any other racehorse in Hong Kong history. According to Wikipedia, “Golden Sixty raced in the Hong Kong Gold Cup for the third time and defeated Romantic Warrior again to claim his 24th win, which surpasses Liberty Bay’s 85-year record of 23 Hong Kong wins, making Golden Sixty the racehorse with the most wins in Hong Kong horse racing history.”
Golden Sixty wins the 2023 Group 1 Hong Kong Gold Cup white silks, #1, in a great race, beating the great Romantic Warrior,
Golden Sixty winning the same race (Hong Kong Gold Cup) in 2021, another desperately close race.
Golden Sixty’s race record:
https://www.horseracingnation.com/horse/Golden_Sixty
To be clear, Wixn has 26 Group 1’s to her credit, and I am a big fan of hers. In my estimate, that daughter of Street Cry might be the G.O.A.T. (the Greatest Of All Time). But as for Golden Sixty, given his wins and given his earnings, one would have to consider him one of the best horses in recent history. He legitimately might have more earnings than any other racehorse in the history of the world, even adjusted for inflation given that the top racehorse earn so much more money now. If $1 in 1891 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $32.88 today (these numbers are always somewhat phony), Domino’s $193,550 earned (an earning record that lasted 38 years), would be worth $6,363,924 today. Man O’ War’s $249,465 would be worth in the ballpark of $3,731,622 today. Given that purses have gone way up even adjusting for inflation, I believe the richest horses today earn more than the earlier counterparts. Horses that might possibly have earned more include John Henry, if converting $6,591,860 in 1980 dollars to its current value today when accounting for inflation, to $23,933,091.70 in 2023 dollars.
In terms of his ability as a racehorse, as much as Rachel Alexandra is a horse in my heart with memories of my father at The Spa, the objective thinker in me has to regard Golden Sixty as the more accomplished offspring of Medaglia d’Oro.
Golden Sixty takes the 2023 Steward’s Cup
Twice, Medaglia d’Oro was beat by Pleasantly Perfect—the 2004 Dubai World Cup and the 2003 Breeders’ Cup Classic. Pleasantly Perfect was born in 1998, Medaglia d’Oro in 1999. Pleasantly Perfect died in 2020. While Medaglia d’Oro has 21 horses currently standing at stud, Pleasantly Perfect has no listed son standing according to the Bloodhorse stallion register. His great sprinting son, WHITMORE (USA) ch. G, 2013 {8-k} was a gelding. Pleasantly Perfect’s relatively mediocre performance at stud is a part of the reason that the St. Simon sire line is in demise—a subject to be explored more fully for another day.
An incredible stretch drive with Pleasantly Perfect and Medaglia D’oro in the 2004 Dubai World Cup.
Pleasantly Perfect wins the 2003 Breeders’ Cup Classic (the 20th running of the race)
