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Owner and breeder: Rosa M. Hoots. In 1924 Churchill Downs added the derby's first prep race in celebration of the 50th running of the Kentucky Derby. Black Gold won the Trial and came back four days later to win the Derby. Black Gold claimed a $50,000 prize as well as the first 14k gold trophy to be presented to a Kentucky Derby winner (the trophy was later stolen). It would be another 24 years before a Derby Trial winner would also win the Derby. Due to her Osage heritage, Matt Winn, the Derby's vice-president and general manager, referred to Rosa as a "simple aboriginal woman." Black Gold ran his last race on January 18, 1928 when he finished the Salome Purse with a broken leg. He was buried the next day at the Fair Grounds infield in New Orleans. Black Gold was inducted into the National Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame in 1989.
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