Gold Street goes gate to wire in Oaklawn's Smarty Jones Stakes

As a son of Street Boss, Gold Street may not relish all of the Kentucky Derby’s 1 1/4 miles. But on Friday, he only needed to pass an initial two-turn test, and the colt did when taking them all the way to the first finish line at Oaklawn Park in the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes.

Cutting fractions of 24.08 seconds for the quarter mile and 48.96 for the half, the Steve Asmussen trainee carried a length lead into the far turn and had two up on his closest competition spinning off for a short stretch run.

In owner Mike McCarty's colors, Gold Street ran into ideal conditions both in terms of track configuration and surface. He made this his third straight win over an off track, completing the mile in 1:39.62 for a 10-1 upset over "muddy" dirt.

"He can't make it rain, but he does take advantage of it when it happens," Asmussen said.

Previously, Gold Street broke his maiden by seven lengths in the Churchill Downs slop, then prevailed again when moved up to stakes company in Fair Grounds’ Dec. 21 Sugar Bowl.

Another Gold Street victory over wet going came at the expense of well-backed Three Technique, bet down to 2-1 co-favoritism. From the outside post in a field of nine, he ranged up widest of all through the full turn and ran a good second, looking like a key player in Oaklawn's future preps.

Asmussen filled out the third (Shoplifted) and fourth (Silver Prospector) spots with a pair of last out stakes winners on the Derby trail. They exited victories in Churchill's Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) and the Remington Springboard Mile, respectively.

"Very fortunate to have four stakes winners going into the race," said Asmussen, who also sent out Jungle Runner in the field of nine. "I think that the way the racetrack's playing today -- speed-favoring -- and Gold Street just had the most speed today.

"Obviously we still have very high hopes for several of them, and it does change considerably when the races go farther."

Gold Street earned 10 Derby qualifying points for his victory. The Smarty Jones precedes Oaklawn’s Feb. 17 Southwest Stakes (G3), March 14 Rebel Stakes (G2) and April 11 Arkansas Derby (G1) on the way to Churchill Downs.