Go for Gin

Editor's Note: Go for Gin, winner of the 1994 GI Kentucky Derby and a former Bonita Farm stallion, died this week at age 31. In 2011 my partner in Go for Gin, Joe Cornacchia, who was a true pillar of the sport and the old-style owner who, like myself, cared about the retirement of his horses, asked that I contact the Kentucky Horse Park about his placement there. Many thanks to the Park for his care during his last 10 years. Ironically, he lived next door to another stud at...

Go For Gin (Cormorant--Never Knock, by Stage Door Johnny), who was the oldest living Kentucky Derby winner, passed away Tuesday due to heart failure at the Kentucky Horse Park, where he had lived since retiring from stud duty in June 2011. The 31-year-old won the 1994 Kentucky Derby and was second behind Tabasco Cat in both that year's GI Preakness S. and GI Belmont S. "We're honored that Go For Gin was an ambassador of the park for nearly 12 years," said Kentucky Horse Park Executive Director Lee Carter. "As...

GISW Albert the Great (Go For Gin) was euthanized Friday at Old Friends in Georgetown, Kentucky, where he has been pensioned since 2017. According to attending veterinarian Dr. Bryan Waldridge, the 23-year-old stallion was euthanized due to chronic sinus infection. Campaigned by owner Tracy Farmer and trainer Nick Zito, he earned his first graded stakes while capturing the 2000 GII Dwyer S. and, later that year, he added the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup. At Saratoga that summer, he was a close-up second in the GI Travers S. At four,...

Been paying attention to what's going on in the Empire State lately (er, you might know it as New York)? We speak not of the mess in the Governor's Mansion or resulting headlines and cable news rumblings. Rather, we refer to the status of registered New York-breds, exploits of which are tickling the fancy of the state's breeders--many of whom went home dancing with dollars following the conclusion of the Fasig-Tipton sale for a brace of indigenous yearlings. The sale continued a recent demand from owners, trainers, and pinhookers because...