The Converging and Diverging Careers of Alpha and Golden Ticket

When first they met, Alpha was the big horse, while Golden Ticket was little more than an afterthought. The 2012 Travers featured Alpha, the Godolphin blueblood, who was already a three-time stakes winner, and was coming off an impressive score in the Jim Dandy. Sent off as the 2-1 favorite in the 11-horse field, the son of the hot, young Travers winning sire, Bernardini, was considered strictly the one to beat, and he did win. Well, sort of.

Both colts stalked the early pace set by big long shot Speightscity, but it was the unheralded Golden Ticket who shot to the front along the rail at the head of the lane. David Cohen, aboard the long shot, gave it everything he had, as he tried to get Golden Ticket to the wire in front of a surging Alpha. It was clear that the late rally of Fast Falcon had fallen short back in third, but as for Alpha and Golden Ticket, the result was too close to call by the naked eye.

A resulting photo ensued, as a national viewing audience soaked up the drama of the two trainers sweating it out in the Saratoga winner’s circle. Kiaran McLaughlin and Kenny McPeek may be friends, but for these painfully long moments, they both desperately did not want to see the other’s number go up first. As it turned out, they both ended up happy when the decision came down as a tie. Golden Ticket, at 33-1 had dead-heated Alpha for the Travers win.

The two would meet again in their very next race in the Pennsylvania Derby at Parx. Alpha would again be the favorite, this time a heavy one, at 7-10, while Golden Ticket was a much more respected 6-1 third choice. The Travers surprise co-winner would run to his odds, finishing a good third. Alpha would not. Handsome Mike, at odds of 19-1, ran the race of his life to win the rich race at Parx, with Golden Ticket losing the photo for second to Macho Macho. Alpha, after being out in front early, had little left for the finish, and checked in a disappointing sixth.

It may have taken Golden Ticket six tries to finally break his maiden, while the well intended Alpha romped in his career debut at Saratoga, before running second to Union Rags in the Grade 1 Champagne, but nearing the close of their sophomore seasons, it was quite clear that Golden Ticket had become every bit the horse that Alpha was.

Flash forward to the autumn of 2013 for the third meeting of Golden Ticket and Alpha, this time in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Finally, the preference of bettors had shifted, and Golden Ticket was the much preferred of the two at 7-1, while Alpha was largely ignored at 19-1. The bettors knew what they were doing. Rallying into a speed favoring race track, Golden Ticket ran big to finish a clear second to the uncatchable speed of Goldencents. Alpha was never a factor at Santa Anita, eventually finishing eighth of eleven.

Moving forward to 2014, Alpha and Golden Ticket Part IV took place on Belmont’s opening day of the fall meet. Friday’s Left Bank Stakes looked a lot like the previous year’s meeting in the World Championships had been. Golden Ticket took advantage of a lively pace and rallied wide to earn a neck victory over the favored Pants On Fire, as the 5-2 second choice. It is a performance that should set him up well for another run at the Breeders’ Cup. Alpha, meanwhile, offered little as the 9-2 fourth choice, and at the wire, he was the only horse not within shouting distance in the field of five.

Since that fateful summer afternoon at Saratoga, Alpha has really come close to victory only once in 13 starts. Credit should be given, though, for that one “close” was a win in the Grade 1 Woodward, when he proved to be game as could be as the longest shot on the board in a sloppy edition of the prestigious race. The other 12 tries were not very good, with Friday’s performance among his least encouraging. Golden Ticket has not exactly been a win machine since the Travers surprise, but in the same time frame, he has accounted for four wins, with four other solid second place finishes in the Stephen Foster, BC Dirt Mile, Gulfstream Park Handicap, and Alysheba.

Golden Ticket and Alpha will always be joined in the pages of history as the colts who ran to a dead heat in the Mid-Summer Derby, but now as they met for the fourth, and likely final time, it is clear as can be that the once lesser thought of the two, has become the better horse.