Rick & Marcia Gold (wife)

Rick Gold is the TOBA April Member of the Month.

Hit the Road‘s win in the March 6 Frank E. Kilroe Mile Stakes (G1T) was a milestone. Not only did trainer Dan Blacker get his first grade 1 win, but co-owner Rick Gold also nabbed his first top-flight victory as a named partner. Gold owns the More Than Ready colt with D K Racing, Radley Equine, Taste of Victory Stables, Tony E. Maslowski, and Dave Odmark.

A former executive and Silicon Valley entrepreneur, Gold has noticed how his technological and corporate experiences are a world away from racing. “I’m not in the business of horse racing,” he explained. “I’m an owner and I got drawn into it not by the economics or not, frankly, by the desire to own a grade one winner.

“It was really just the majesty of the Thoroughbred and I’m a city kid. My entire horse-riding experience consisted of trail rides at Yosemite and when I got involved, I didn’t know a fetlock from a furlong. But the appeal of both the animals and the fact that you can bet on the sport, it’s a gambling game of skill. And the ability to put your mind to work and develop a theory about a horse or a race and you can state your opinion with real dollars and that has always appealed to me.” He was particularly enthralled by watching Zenyatta‘s meteoric rise to greatness.

The Kilroe was a special moment for Gold. He recalled, “It was, I think, of all the races on the [Santa Anita Park] card, I think it was the one that was the deepest and the most balanced field, and they could’ve run that race ten times and had ten different winners, you know. And it was–he was in prime position. The first three-quarters of the race looked like his last two races, which both ended up being stakes wins, but they weren’t at this level.

“And when he, when Florent [Geroux] found that hole at the top of the stretch and squeezed through, that’s kind of the same thing that happened in the last two races. But in those two races, when he made it through the hole, the other horses just folded and he won going away, but this was a real grade 1 field and he had to work for it. And so. we were just–at first we were just thrilled when he broke through, and then, oh my gosh, it’s not over.” Hit the Road’s triumph marked his fourth straight win, his third stake.

Gold has partnered with Bourbon Lane Racing, headed by fellow Cornell alum Mike McMahon, and Little Red Feather Racing. With Agave Racing, LRF raced 2018 Santa Margarita Stakes (G1) Fault. But Gold was involved in acquiring Hit the Road from the very start.

Australian bloodstock agent Craig “Boomer” Rounsefell and Blacker picked out the colt at the 2018 Keeneland September sale. Hit the Road RNA’d for $200,000 and was then purchased privately. “I was on the phone with them, “Gold said, “and then just kind of planning the whole–everything from them on. We’ve been involved since day one and it’s been quite a ride, and the horse, he’s been professional all along.”

The colt has persevered despite setbacks. “But he was able to come back from those strong and keep it up now,” Gold mused, “and he’s won stakes races at two, three, and four. Who knows where he’s going to go from here? But he was–as they say, he ate up and jogged up sound this morning. Onward!” Gold and his wife, Marcia, are partners in 20 horses stateside and a number of horses in Australia.

What’s next for Hit the Road? Gold, who resides in Coronado, California and serves on the board of the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC), hopes to see the colt run at his home track. He shared, “Well, we would certainly love to see him in the Breeders’ Cup this year, you know, at Del Mar, which makes it even more attractive. That’s obviously–that’s an incredibly competitive, prestigious race. Some of the best of the best horses from around the world are going to be there for the Breeders’ Cup Mile [G1T]. That would be certainly an aspirational goal for us.”

The horse’s welfare comes first, though. “We’re not in a rush to get him back out and to the track again,” he noted,” and I think we’ll catch our breath for a week or two and then kind of look around and see what we think makes sense.”