Kona Gold RIP

[HaloWishingwell]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIM-BmN55go


One of my favorites

[Danzig]

crypto and now this guy...been a rough few days for the horses. always enjoyed kona golds races, he was a lot of fun to watch.

[Merlinsky]

Steve mentioned it a minute ago on his show and I was just floored. This week's been so tough.

Here's an article on it: http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=14974

They don't think it was a kick from another horse, based on the nature of the injury, but possibly he just twisted it wrong. Talk about a bad step.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

He was a great sprinter handled with kid gloves .. but was always at the top of the division back in years when the sprint division was absolutely loaded with talent.

[RolloTomasi]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

He was a great sprinter handled with kid gloves .. but was always at the top of the division back in years when the sprint division was absolutely loaded with talent.

Kid gloves? Obviously, you never saw his workout tab. Or most of his racing career really.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by RolloTomasi

Kid gloves? Obviously, you never saw his workout tab. Or most of his racing career really.

* He never once made more than 6 starts in a single year ... and he raced from '98 to '03 .. a time when horses ran more frequent than now.

* He was held out and not entered from more races because of high weight assignments - than probably any horse in recent history.

Workouts... I laughed.

[RolloTomasi]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

* He never once made more than 6 starts in a single year ... and he raced from '98 to '03 .. a time when horses ran more frequent than now.

* He was held out and not entered from more races because of high weight assignments - than probably any horse in recent history.

Workouts... I laughed.

Never mind that he didn't get really underway until August of '98 at Del Mar as a 4yo no less. Yet despite the tardy start, he somehow managed to make it into the BC field that year (as a member of the mutual field) and finished 3rd. What was it, 5 races in the span of 3 months...that's less than every 2 weeks.

At 5, he and Big Jag unleashed a furious rivalry that spanned, IIRC, every major sprint stakes at the Santa Anita winter meet (with the possible exception of the 6.5f Potrero Grande).

Typically, after a full SA winter meet, he would take the Hollywood Park meet off (skipping a Grade 3 race and another going 7f) before prepping for the BC with the Bing Crosby at Del Mar and Ancient Title at Oak Tree. Sounds like a solid plan to me during a time when the only $1 million sprint in this country was the BC.

I suppose on the surface giving a racehorse a 3-month break once a year is too much babying, but rest assured, coming from the Bruce Headley barn, when he was in active race training his feet were being put to the fire, so laugh at the "workout tab" comment all you want.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by HaloWishingwell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIM-BmN55go


One of my favorites

What the hell is wrong with you for thinking a win in a Breeders Cup race was one of his great moments.

Any true fan of Kona Gold that actually followed his career knows that his single greatest career achievement happened in April of 2002.

SA 04/26/02 5F Dirt 57.80 Handily 1/38
SA 04/18/02 5F Dirt 58.60 Handily 1/27
SA 04/10/02 5F Dirt 58.20 Handily 1/35
SA 04/03/02 5F Dirt 58.60 Handily 1/26


He strung together a personal best 6 straight bullet works between April and May of '02.

Now that is greatness ... who cares about actual racing?

[RolloTomasi]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

What the hell is wrong with you for thinking a win in a Breeders Cup race was one of his great moments.

Any true fan of Kona Gold that actually followed his career knows that his single greatest career achievement happened in April of 2002.

SA 04/26/02 5F Dirt 57.80 Handily 1/38
SA 04/18/02 5F Dirt 58.60 Handily 1/27
SA 04/10/02 5F Dirt 58.20 Handily 1/35
SA 04/03/02 5F Dirt 58.60 Handily 1/26


He strung together a personal best 6 straight bullet works between April and May of '02.

Now that is greatness ... who cares about actual racing?

Whatever, dude. Thanks for putting words in my mouth. I guess when I challenged the "kid gloves" comment I was outting myself as the President of the Kona Gold fan club (should I be a suspect in his death?)

Nonetheless, I was wrong. I can see where working him in bullet fashion every 8th day (as opposed to every 7th) could be considered conservative.

Maybe the clockers should have denoted "Handily---with kid gloves".

My bad.

[philcski]

Great horse, was at the KHP today and the hall of champions was roped off, wanted to go pay my respects.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

We are almost 3/4ths of the way through 2009 ... and so far the best Beyer figure earned in a sprint race this year is 115.

From Jan 3rd of '99 to Oct 6th of '01 .. Kona Gold made 15 starts and had an avg Beyer of 115.33 over those 15 races.

He made 5 starts in 1999 ... running Beyers of 115, 115, 115, 115, and 123. In those 5 starts ... he managed to win only one race.

[chucklestheclown]

RIP.

[Indian Charlie]

I always wanted to see him try a longer distance.

Java Gold, Slew o' Gold?