What I learned from Seeking the Gold

When news came this morning of Seeking the Gold’s passing, it reminded me of how much I learned from the trajectory of his career.

Here was a horse tailor-made for my support: a blueblood Phipps homebred, trained by Shug McGaughey. After all, I hopped onto the Personal Ensign bandwagon very early, even before her serious injury at two. Excited beyond belief to have gotten on the “ground floor” with a future Hall of Famer, I later glommed onto Easy Goer when he was a once-raced maiden.

But in between those titans, I somehow missed the boat on Seeking the Gold. My initial, mistaken judgment set me up for a teachable season, so to speak, and by the end, I loved Seeking the Gold.

My cardinal error was taking too much to heart his losses to Private Terms in the 1988 Gotham (G2) and Wood Memorial (G1). I didn’t remember the details until just looking them up for this blog, and I can’t recall if I gave him something of a pass for his traffic trouble in the Gotham or not. What was emblazoned in my mind was the fact that Private Terms simply beat him. If Seeking the Gold were as good as advertised, he would have won those, right? So goes teen logic. Although he turned the tables when they were seventh and ninth, respectively, in the Kentucky Derby (G1), it made me think less of Private Terms without revising my lukewarm opinion of Seeking the Gold.

Over the summer, Seeking the Gold rebounded in style in the Peter Pan (G2) and Dwyer (G1). That was nice to see him regain the winning thread, but again, it didn’t prompt me to re-evaluate his ranking in the division. He wasn’t up against Risen Star or Forty Niner there, was he?

Roll onto the Haskell (G1), and imagine my surprise to see Seeking the Gold nearly upsetting Forty Niner.

 

I took Seeking the Gold much more seriously in their rematch in the Travers (G1). Still, I wanted Forty Niner to confirm the form – he was the better one all along, right? – and celebrated when he did, barely.