Age proves no barrier for Goldsmith in October Stakes

Goldsmith recorded the biggest success of his career at the age of eight as he unleashed a storming run to take the 10-furlong Listed October Stakes at Tokyo, Japan, on Sunday, 16 October.

The son of Stay Gold, who had been restricted to just 22 previous starts during an injury-interrupted career, was held up towards the rear of the 16 runners before taking slightly closer order at the halfway stage.

Goldsmith still had the majority of his rivals in front of him two furlongs out but the Mizuki Takayanagi-trained runner accelerated powerfully down the centre of the course to hit the front entering the final half-furlong.

Takuya Ono pushed out Goldsmith for a length success over G3 winner Last Draft.

Harry Sweeney, President of Godolphin in Japan, said: “We are absolutely thrilled. We faced a big call with Goldsmith exactly two years ago when he presented with a significant tendon injury affecting almost 10 per cent of the tissue. As we believed in the horse, we gave him the time he needed to heal fully and he was off the track for 20 months in total.

“Since making his comeback in June of this year, he has already won twice and added a further US$400,000 to his bank account. Furthermore, today, at the age of eight, he was in fact winning his first Black Type race ever. This is a very noteworthy achievement, so a big shout out to the trainer and indeed all our own team who did such a wonderful job to get him back on the track.

“We plan to run Goldsmith next in the G3 Fukushima Kinen over 10 furlongs in mid-November.”