Hollywood Gold Cup Legend: Lava Man

On June 19, 2003 a seemingly typical field of nine lined up for a $12,500 maiden claiming event at at the San Joaquin County Fair in Stockton, California. Who would have possibly guessed that hidden in the field was a true gem. Sent off at odds of 35-1, a future winner or more than $5 million would make up some ground late to get up for fourth. His name was Lava Man, and from these most modest of beginnings, he would go on to become a California racing legend.

The son of Slew City Slew, out of the Nostalgia’s Star mare L’il Ms. Leonard, would finally break through to leave the maiden ranks in his fifth and final start at two, winning a maiden special weight at Golden Gate Fields. Before it was over, the dark bay gelding would win 17 times. None of those wins more memorable than his three successive victories in the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup.

The signature race at the venerable Hollywood Park, the Gold Cup was won by some of the greats in American racing history. Of all of them, only two managed to win the big race three times. The first was the great California-bred gelding, Native Diver, who scored in consecutive editions from 1965 through 1967. Four decades later, another California-bred gelding came along to match the amazing feat.

Before Lava Man could rise to those lofty heights, he would need to get out of the claiming ranks. That would happen in the summer of his three-year-old season when trainer Doug O’Neill snatched him out of the first race at Del Mar for $50,000 on behalf of STD Racing Stable and partner Jason Wood. The rest, as they say, would soon become history.

A minor stakes winner in his very first start for his new barn, Lava Man would enter his first Grade 1 race in the final few days of his sophomore season, and ran big to win the photo for second, behind only Rock Hard Ten in the Malibu Stakes. Clearly the unheralded gelding was moving in the right direction.

His second attempt in Grade 1 racing came on July 9, 2005. Despite coming in off a win in the Grade 2 Californian over the main track at Hollywood, the gelding was not one of the favorites for the Gold Cup. Going off at 6-1 against a solid field, Lava Man, with Patrick Valenzuela in the irons, met the large occasion with what was probably his best career performance.

This powerhouse win in the 2005 Hollywood Gold Cup was Lava Man's first Grade 1 victory, but it would be far from his last. In fact, the rags to riches story would earn a total of seven Grade 1 victories in his career. 

With his first victory in the Gold Cup in the books, Lava Man would lose his final three races as a four-year-old. They would come in a very ambitious schedule of the Pacific Classic, Jockey Club Gold Cup, and Japan Cup Dirt. The losing streak would not last one race into his five-year-old season, though. Back home in California, he began his fourth season on the racetrack on a roll.

Popular victories in the: Sunshine Millions Classic, Santa Anita Handicap (his first of two in the prestigious race), TVG Khaled Stakes, and Grade 1 Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap, sent him into his second attempt in the Hollywood Gold Cup as the toast of the Golden State. For the 2006 edition, Lava Man came in as the defending champion, and the heavy favorite, but this one turned out to be anything but easy.

Before his third attempt in the Gold Cup, Lava Man would have another unsuccessful sojourn, this time for the rich Dubai World Cup. The story of this wonderful horse is not complete without the telling of his fondness for California racing. Every single one of his career victories came in his home state. For whatever reason, Lava Man never ran his best outside California, going a non-threatening 0-for-4 in New York, Tokyo, Louisville, and Dubai. In his home state, though, he was a force of nature.

With one good local prep under his girth, Lava Man was ready for another defense in the Gold Cup. The fans and bettors who bet him down to 7-5 in the field of nine had no way of knowing that this would turn out to be his last career victory, but they were treated to something special on this afternoon. It was Lava Man at his gritty, determined best.

Unlike his first two Hollywood Gold Cup wins, this one came on their new synthetic racing surface. The legend of Lava Man deservedly grows, when you consider that he was a Grade 1 winner on dirt, turf, and synthetic. 

California's best for three years running, Lava Man entered racing's most hallowed arena in 2015. From maiden claiming at Stockton to the Hall of Fame, there can be no doubt that his three consecutive victories in the Gold Cup played a large part in his achieving the ultimate honor in American racing.

Sadly, Hollywood Park is long gone, but their biggest race remains. As you watch this Saturday's Gold Cup at Santa Anita, remember to give a tip of the hat to the fantastic gelding turned pony, for Lava Man is a Hollywood Gold Cup legend.