In his three-year-old campaign, Gato del Sol was winless going into the Kentucky Derby but had been second in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland Race Course. Given little chance by Churchill Downsbettors against the favored Wood Memorial Stakes winner Air Forbes Won, Gato Del Sol was sent off at odds of 21-1, the third longest in the race. He trailed the nineteen-horse field in the 1¼ mile race early but under jockey Eddie Delahoussaye began making a move after half a mile. By the mile pole, he had moved up to fifth place. He continued to gain ground as the field moved down the homestretch, with six horses spread across the track racing head-to-head. By the final furlong marker, Gato Del Sol had moved to the lead by a half-length and then pulled away to win by 2½ lengths. He paid $44.40 to win, the 10th highest payoff in Derby history. Following his Derby win, Gato Del Sol's handlers decided to bypass the Preakness Stakes with its shorter distance. Instead, they rested their horse for the 1½ mile Belmont Stakes. Their decision marked the first time in twenty-three years that the Kentucky Derby winner did not try for the Triple Crown. Gato Del Sol finished second in the Belmont Stakes, fourteen lengths behind Henryk de Kwiatkowski's colt, Conquistador Cielo. Gato Del Sol raced on the New York circuit for the remainder of the 1982 season. After he finished eighth in the Suburban Handicap, his training was taken over by Howard Tesher. Gato Del Sol then won an allowance race at Saratoga Race Course on August 7 as a tuneup for his run in the prestigious Travers Stakes. That year, the entries included each of the winners of the three American Classics. In addition to Derby winner Gato Del Sol, the competition included Preakness Stakes victor Aloma's Ruler and Belmont Stakes winner Conquistador Cielo. However, Canadian outsider Runaway Groom won, becoming the first horse in American racing history to defeat the winners of the three classics in the same race. Gato Del Sol, who finished fifth, came out of the race with an ankle injury that ended his 1982 season.
Retired to stud duty at Stone Farm, Gato Del Sol had little success as a sire. He was eventually sold and in 1993 ended up at a breeding operation in Germany, where he continued to underperform. In 2000, his original co-owner, Arthur Hancock III, and his wife Staci bought Gato Del Sol back in order to eliminate any possibility that he be subjected to the same fate as another American champion, Exceller, who was killed in a Swedishslaughterhouse. Pensioned, Gato Del Sol spent the remainder of his days on the farm where he was foaled. On August 7, 2007, he was euthanized because of health complications at the age of 28.
Pedigree
Trivia
Not only was Gato del Sol the first Derby winner for Arthur Hancock III, he was the first Derby winner owned by a member of the famed Hancock family of Claiborne Farm, whose business was primarily breeding. Arthur later won a second Derby title as owner of Sunday Silence.
Stone Farm is a sponsor of the University of Kentucky Solar Car Team, with Gato Del Sol serving as the namesake for the local team's solar-powered cars.
Gato Del Sol was the partial namesake of Gastr Del Sol; Post Rock outfit headed by Louisville native David Grubbs.
