A Thoroughbred, if it is lucky and has the right people, will lead three satisfying lives. He or she will be a racehorse, a procreator, and then, in retirement, a noble ambassador for the breed, safe and sound in a place of temporal worship.
Its name, especially if well chosen, will resound forever with the accomplishments of its youth. And when he or she arrives at the end of the line, having exceeded all reasonable expectations imposed upon the fragile breed, they will pass into precious memory with all the accolades due a venerated statesman or a celebrated artist.
Touch Gold, a son of Deputy Minister and grandson of Buckpasser, was euthanized at the Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital on Nov. 13, where he had been admitted a few days earlier. At age 31, foaled on May 26, 1994, he was second only to Silver Charm in terms of senior status at Old Friends Equine, the retirement home for former racehorses, stallions, and mares located just down the road in Georgetown, Ky.
The racing life of Touch Gold lasted parts of three seasons and 15 starts, but it was a brilliant window of just four months embracing four races in the spring and summer of 1997 that secured his reputation as a Thoroughbred of unusual courage.
Those of us lucky enough to follow the drama in person recall the impact of Touch Gold's 8 1/2-length romp in the Lexington Stakes (G2) in April of '97, which propelled him straight into the thick of the conversation surrounding the Kentucky Derby (G1). Instead, owner Frank Stronach and trainer Dave Hofmans quickly scotched such talk and pointed straight for the Preakness Stakes (G1).
A lion's den of a field awaited at Pimlico Race Course that included the 1-2-4 finishers from the Kentucky Derby—Silver Charm, Captain Bodgit, and Free House. Touch Gold was fourth choice, but his race was over one step after the gates opened when he went to his nose and left knee. The stumble was captured for posterity by the helmet-cam worn that day by Chris McCarron.
Somehow, Touch Gold recovered to unleash a monumental effort, though not without physical cost. Coming from last place to finish fourth, he was beaten less than 2 lengths by the battling Silver Charm and Free House, with Captain Bodgit a close third. But in Touch Gold's scramble to regain his footing at the start, a hind foot had sheared off a piece of his left front hoof, making his race all the more impressive and his future dicey.
"It was really bad," said Grant Hofmans, his father's assistant at the time. "He about tore off half of that left front."
In an effort that became the stuff of farrier legend, quarter-crack specialist Ian McKinlay laced the wound secure and kept it clean, allowing the colt to be trained, then applied a patch so that Touch Gold could compete in the Belmont Stakes (G1). McCarron supplied the final touches to the miracle recovery with an ice-cold ride that went from first around the clubhouse turn, to fourth down the backside, and then to a furious finish that ended Silver Charm's Triple Crown dreams by three-quarters of a length.
Two months later, Touch Gold reappeared to win the Haskell Invitational Handicap (G1), beating Free House and Tale of the Cat. One hour earlier, Hofmans won the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) at Saratoga Race Course with Stronach's Awesome Again. But for all their success, Hofmans and Stronach parted ways later that year and the horses went east to Patrick Byrne. Touch Gold was able to win only a single allowance race in four starts at age 4.
As a stallion, Touch Gold stood at Adena Springs, Stronach's Kentucky farm, beginning in 1999. He moved to a New York outpost—Adena Springs at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds—from 2010-13 before returning to the Blue Grass for his final two seasons at stud. His very first crop included Seek Gold, winner of the Stephen Foster Handicap (G1), and Composure, winner of the Santa Anita Oaks (G1). He ended with a total of 29 stakes winners and a number of daughters with admirable produce records.
Touch Gold's third act began in December of 2015 with his arrival at Old Friends, where Seek Gold himself had been a resident since 2009. Grant Hofmans last saw Touch Gold in February of 2024 when Old Friends threw a 30th birthday bash for the two old warriors from the '97 Triple Crown.
"Lots of people showed up, there were birthday cakes, and they kept showing the Belmont over and over," Hofmans said. His father died in July of '24.
"Touch Gold looked good," Hofmans noted. "He was mellowed out and loved his carrots. He always had a very distinctive, kind of feminine head. But it was still him.
"He wasn't a horse with a big presence, and he wasn't necessarily one of the big attractions," Hofmans added. "But he had that big old engine to push him along, and people sure knew who he was. I think it was his grit and what he overcame that made him popular. Remember, he was a later foal—not even a full 3 when he ran in the Preakness."
Michael Blowen, founder of Old Friends, has his own take on the Touch Gold following.
"His fans were the racing people," Blowen said. "They knew what he'd done and just how good he had to be to do what he did. He wasn't one of those cuddly types who would stand there all day posing for pictures. If you had a carrot for him, fine. If not, he wasn't interested."
Touch Gold's pasture abutted part of Silver Charm's. There are photos of them together on their fence lines, sniffing in bygone recognition.
"There was no running," said Blowen, who stepped down as president of Old Friends in 2024. "Silver Charm still gets a run in every once in a while, but Touch Gold was through with the running. He was healthy, though. His coat was good, he held his weight good, and his appetite was terrific."
Until things changed. In recent months, Touch Gold began to exhibit symptoms of incomplete penile retraction. Personnel from Rood & Riddle, angels working on a pro bono basis, made several visits in an effort to ease what was becoming a chronic condition that would be exacerbated by descending temperatures.
"Welcome to the humility of old age," Blowen said. "They were working on that problem, and then as cold weather approached, they decided he needed to go to the clinic. That's where they discovered all kinds of other things—80% blocked here, 90% blocked there. It was really, really bad.
"I'm just glad he was at Rood & Riddle where they could euthanize him and give him a peaceful goodbye," Blowen said. "If he hadn't gone in there, he probably would have lived another two or three weeks, and it would have been awful. You hate to think of him dying in his pasture alone, in the cold, and in pain.
"I've never been around a tougher living thing in my life than that horse," Blowen added. "He never showed any pain. Never showed any anxiety. But the thing about these stallions, as Dr. Doug Byars told me years ago, it's that it's the same out in the wild. A stallion can't show that he's vulnerable, or he's done. The young ones will come along and take his job. Genetically, they developed this stoicism that's unbelievable."
The earthly remains of Touch Gold will have a place in the Nikki Bacharach Memorial Garden at Old Friends, created with the support of Burt Bacharach and Angie Dickinson in honor of their daughter. If you make the trip, there you will find the headstones of Derby winners Charismatic and War Emblem, Hall of Famer and Horse of the Year Skip Away, and Touch Gold's stablemate, Awesome Again.
"For our visitors, we show some of the races of our horses up in the barn," Blowen said. "And, of course, we show the '97 Belmont, like five times a day, so people know who he is by the time they leave. And you can bet we'll continue to show it."
