Forged Steel Earns Classic Entry After Winning Goodwood

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. knows the importance of a grade 1 race to a horse's stallion potential. That was very much on his mind when he decided to ship Forged Steel and Caldera to California for the Sept. 26 Goodwood Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park. The result? A 1-2 finish. "It would help both of these horses in their own right get a stallion career," Joseph said a few days before the race. "One's by Vekoma—it would be Vekoma's first grade 1 winner if Forged Steel won. The other is a Liam's Map. This is our Breeders' Cup right now." Forged Steel proved that he adores Santa Anita. His first visit in May to the track resulted in a 9 1/2-length win in the 1 1/4-mile Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes (G2) after setting all the pace. In the Goodwood, he raced in second early, and while the winning margin was "only" 1 1/4 lengths, his performance was nevertheless impressive. Taif, at 25-1 from the Bob Baffert barn, went to the lead at the start of the 1 1/8-mile Goodwood, clicking off the first quarter-mile in :22.97. Forged Steel and jockey Edwin Gonzalez rated in second, just waiting for the right moment. At the far turn, Gonzalez felt that moment had arrived. He asked, Forged Steel answered; and though the other eight may not have yet known it, the race was over. Forged Steel took the lead, ahead by 2 lengths at one point in the stretch, and won decisively in 1:48.48. Caldera, Joseph's other horse, moved up from fourth to get second, 1 3/4 lengths in front of Nevada Beach, last year's Goodwood winner and the 6-5 favorite. "When I passed the three-eighths, I passed the leader and was waiting for the horses to come from behind while giving him a little breather," Gonzalez said. "When I turned for home and when I asked, it was one ask and he kept going." The win by Forged Steel gave Gonzalez his first North American grade 1 victory. Joseph may have felt that the Goodwood was Forged Steel's Breeders' Cup, but now the 4-year-old colt has a chance to move on to that series. The Goodwood earned him an automatic, fees-paid berth to the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) Oct. 31 at Keeneland as a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In event. The trainer was unable to attend the Goodwood, instead sending assistant Julia Ezra and shipping into Dan Blacker's local barn. That didn't mean Forged Steel was unrepresented. Since the Gold Cup, Michael Iavarone's TCC Stables has bought into the horse's ownership, which already had included C2 Racing Stable and Mathis Stables. "I watched the race this horse ran in the Gold Cup, and it was very impressive," Iavarone said. "I thought, 'If we bring him back here and he could be forward, the cutback is going to be huge for him.' I feel like Edwin had the race in his back pocket pretty much at the half-mile pole." Iavarone's wife, Jules, was away on a trip, but her best friend, Maika Boivin, now has a small interest in Forged Steel and accompanied Michael in the winner's circle. He was even more excited for her because it was her first win. Boivin is an accomplished rider of hunter-jumpers in Canada. "Whether you own 1% or 100%, it's all about coming here and enjoying the moment," Iavarone said. "One thing Jules and I are about—we try to bring new people into the game." Forged Steel was making his third trip this year to California. In between the Gold Cup and the Goodwood, he shipped to Del Mar for the Pacific Classic Stakes (G1), ending up seventh. "Del Mar is a very interesting track," Iavarone said. "Some horses just don't like it; some horses do." While Forged Steel has easily put in his best two performances at Santa Anita, he has also placed in stakes at Gulfstream Park and Oaklawn Park. Richard Wilson bred Forged Steel in Kentucky from Scorecard, a winning daughter of Tale of the Cat. C2 Racing Stable bought Forged Steel for $190,000 at the 2024 Ocala Breeders' Sales March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. Forged Steel became the first grade 1 winner for his sire Vekoma, who has also sired five graded stakes winners in 2026: Bottas, Mi Bago, Brachetto, Alpyland, and Mad House. The leading first- and second-crop sire in North America in 2024 and 2025, respectively, as well as the current leading third-crop sire in North America, Vekoma stood the 2026 season for a fee of $100,000 at Spendthrift Farm near Lexington.