Golden Afternoon

Golden Afternoon began his career by making three turf starts during his 2-year-old season in 2024, starting with a maiden win at first asking going 6 1/2 furlongs on the grass at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 8. He made his second start in stakes company in the Grade 2 Bourbon Stakes at Keeneland on Oct. 6 and finished second when beaten only 1 1/2 lengths in a 12-horse field. He earned his second career victory in an allowance optional claiming race going one mile on the turf at Fair Grounds on Nov. 28 to cap off his juvenile season.

Golden Afternoon switched to the dirt for the first time in his career in his first start as a 3-year-old when joining the Kentucky Derby trail in the Grade 3 $250,000 Lecomte Stakes going 1 1/16 miles at Fair Grounds on Jan. 18, 2025. Racing in a 13-horse field on a sloppy track, Golden Afternoon finished fourth in the Lecomte when beaten 2 1/2 lengths. The Lecomte was a points race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, and he earned four qualifying points with his fourth-place finish.