Giacomo (foaled February 16, 2002 in Kentucky) is a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2005 Kentucky Derby at 50–1 odds.

Background

The

gray Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed ...

stallion is owned by his

breeder A breeder is a person who selectively breeds carefully selected mates, normally of the same breed to sexually reproduce offspring with specific, consistently replicable qualities and characteristics. This might be as a farmer, agriculturalist, ...

Jerry Moss Jerome S. Moss (born May 8, 1935) is an American recording executive, best known for being the co-founder of A&M Records, along with trumpet player and bandleader Herb Alpert. Music career After graduating from Brooklyn College with a degree i ...

, who may be better known for co-founding

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distri ...

with trumpeter

Herb Alpert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the ...

. Giacomo was named after the son of Sting. Giacomo's dam

Set Them Free {{Infobox racehorse , horsename = Set Them Free , image = , caption = , sire = Stop The Music , grandsire = Hail To Reason , dam = Valseuse , damsire = Tyrant , sex = Mare , foaled = {{birth date, 1990, 02, 11 , death_date = {{death d ...

also produced Tiago. Giacomo was trained during his racing career by John Shirreffs.

Racing career

Giacomo, ridden by Mike E. Smith won the 2005 Kentucky Derby in a time of 2:02.75. At odds of 50–1, Giacomo stands as tied, with

Mine That Bird Mine That Bird (foaled May 10, 2006) is a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2009 Kentucky Derby at 50-1 odds and came second in the Preakness Stakes and third in the Belmont Stakes. He had earnings of $2,228,637 and was induct ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

, for the fourth-biggest longshot ever to win the Derby, trailing only

Country House (horse) Country House (foaled May 8, 2016) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2019 Kentucky Derby after the disqualification of Maximum Security. Country House's win came as result of an objection call from jockey Flavien Prat. Even ...

, at 65–1 in 2019,

Rich Strike Rich Strike ( foaled April 25, 2019) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse that won the 2022 Kentucky Derby, racing at 80–1 odds. Rich Strike is the second-biggest longshot to have won the Kentucky Derby after Donerail (91–1 odds) in 1913. ...

at 80-1 in 2022, and

Donerail Donerail (1910 – after 1918) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that was the upset winner of the 1913 Kentucky Derby. His win stands as the biggest longshot victory in the history of the Kentucky Derby. Going off at 91–1, Donerail provi ...

, who went off at 91–1 in 1913. Giacomo's owner received a first-place check of $1,639,600 for the victory, the largest in Kentucky Derby history. Giacomo finished third in the

2005 Preakness Stakes The 2005 Preakness Stakes was the 130th running of the Preakness Stakes thoroughbred horse race. The race took place on May 21, 2005, and was televised in the United States on the NBC television network. Afleet Alex, who was jockeyed by Jeremy Ro ...

behind the favorite,

Afleet Alex Afleet Alex (born May 9, 2002 in Florida) is an American thoroughbred race horse who, in 2005, won two of America's classic races, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. He is owned by the Cash Is King Stable partnership, was trained by ...

. He finished seventh in the 2005

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed The ...

, again behind the favored Afleet Alex; Smith said after the race that the horse had breathing problems. Giacomo continued to race after his disappointing Belmont finish. In his first race back, he finished third in the

Strub Stakes The Strub Stakes is an American race for thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refe ...

at Santa Anita Park. After that, he was raced in the prestigious Grade I

Santa Anita Handicap The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in early March at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses four years old and up and was once considered the most important race for old ...

, where he finished 5th and was never a threat. After a four-month layoff, Giacomo won the July 22, 2006,

San Diego Handicap The San Diego Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in late July/early August at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. This Grade II race is open to horses, age three and up, willing to race one and one-sixteenth miles ...

by a head. The victory was followed by a 5th in the

Pacific Classic Stakes The Pacific Classic Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds and older over a distance of one and one quarter miles on the dirt track scheduled annually in August at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. The eve ...

and a show in the Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap, where Giacomo lost to Lava Man for the 3rd time in 4 races. Despite the fact that Giacomo had only won two stakes races, he was entered in the 2006

Breeders' Cup Classic The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3-year-olds and older run at a distance of on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships in late October ...

field, where he faced Lava Man as well as other top horses such as Bernardini and the eventual winner, Invasor. Giacomo finished fourth.

Stud record

After the Breeders' Cup, it was announced that Giacomo would be retired to stud at

Adena Springs Adena Springs is a Thoroughbred horse breeding operation owned by Frank Stronach and his family. The main farm is located in Paris, Kentucky, with satellite locations in Florida and Ontario, Canada. Adena Springs has won the Eclipse Award for O ...

in Kentucky. In November 2015, Oakhurst Thoroughbreds announced Giacomo would stand at stud at their facility in Newberg, Oregon, making Giacomo the second Kentucky Derby winner to stand at stud in Oregon (along with

Grindstone A grindstone, also known as grinding stone, is a sharpening stone used for grinding or sharpening ferrous tools, used since ancient times. Tools are sharpened by the stone's abrasive qualities that remove material from the tool through friction ...

Pedigree

References

External links

NTRA bio
{{Kentucky Derby Winners 2002 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Kentucky Derby winners Thoroughbred family 2-d