Giacomo
Encyclopedia
Giacomo is a Thoroughbred
stallion
race horse trained by John Shirreffs
who is perhaps best known for winning the 2005 Kentucky Derby
in 2:02.75. At odds of 50–1, Giacomo stands as tied, with Mine That Bird
in 2009
, for the second-biggest longshot ever to win the Derby, trailing only Donerail
, 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. Mike E. Smith was Giacomo's jockey when he won the Derby. Smith had also ridden Giacomo's sire, 1994 Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year
winner Holy Bull
, in that year's Derby, when the 2–1 favorite was bumped coming out of the gate and finished 12th. Giacomo finished third in the 2005 Preakness Stakes
behind the favorite Afleet Alex
. He finished seventh in the 2005 Belmont Stakes
, 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
at Santa Anita Park
. After that, he was raced in the prestigious Grade I
Santa Anita Handicap
, where he finished 5th and was never a threat in the race. After a four month layoff, Giacomo came back strong on July 22, 2006 with a win in the San Diego Handicap
by a head. The victory was followed by an unimpressive 5th in the Pacific Classic Stakes
and a show in the Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap
, losing to Lava Man
for the 3rd time in 4 races. Despite the fact that Giacomo had only won two stakes races, he was entered into the incredibly strong 2006 Breeders' Cup Classic
field, where he would face his old rival Lava Man as well as other top horses such as Bernardini
and the eventual winner Invasor
. Giacomo was never a contender in the race, but he closed well to finish in 4th.
After the race, it was announced that Giacomo would be retired to stud, and will stand at Adena Springs in Kentucky
, putting an end to his racing career.
The gray
stallion is owned by his breeder
, Jerry Moss
, who may be better known for co-founding A&M Records
with trumpet
er Herb Alpert
. Giacomo was named after the son of Sting, who recorded for A&M both solo and with The Police
, rather than for the Italian
composer
Puccini
. Giacomo's half-brother, Tiago
, is also a race horse. Interestingly Giacomo and Tiago both mean James, the first being Italian and the second, Portuguese.
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 refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
stallion
Stallion
A Stallion is a male horse.Stallion may also refer to:* Stallion , an American pop rock group* Stallion , a figure in the Gobot toyline* Stallion , a character in the console role-playing game series...
race horse trained by John Shirreffs
John Shirreffs
John A. Shirreffs is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer.Based in California, Vietnam War veteran John Shirreffs began training Thoroughbreds in 1978. He has won a number of stakes races with his most important coming in the 2005 Kentucky Derby when Giacomo scored a major upset...
who is perhaps best known for winning the 2005 Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
in 2:02.75. At odds of 50–1, Giacomo stands as tied, with Mine That Bird
Mine That Bird
Mine That Bird is a retired American racehorse. He is best known for being one of only nine geldings to win the Kentucky Derby, and the second gelding to win the race since 1929...
in 2009
2009 Kentucky Derby
The 2009 Kentucky Derby was the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby. The value of the race was $2,177,000 in stakes. The race was sponsored by Yum! Brands and hence officially was called Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands. The race took place on May 2, 2009, and was televised in the United...
, for the second-biggest longshot ever to win the Derby, trailing only Donerail
Donerail
Donerail was an American thoroughbred racehorse, who was the upset winner of the 1913 Kentucky Derby. His driving win stands to this day as the biggest long shot in the history of the Derby. Going off at 91-1, Donerail provided a $184.90 payoff for a $2 bet. He was drawing away at the finish...
, 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. Mike E. Smith was Giacomo's jockey when he won the Derby. Smith had also ridden Giacomo's sire, 1994 Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year
Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year
The American Award for Horse of the Year is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. It has been awarded since 1887 to the horse, irrespective of age, whose performance during the racing year is deemed the most outstanding....
winner Holy Bull
Holy Bull
Holy Bull is an American Hall of Fame Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. He was sired by Great Above, whose dam was the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame filly Ta Wee.-Race History:...
, in that year's Derby, when the 2–1 favorite was bumped coming out of the gate and finished 12th. Giacomo finished third in the 2005 Preakness Stakes
Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...
behind the favorite Afleet Alex
Afleet Alex
Afleet Alex is an American thoroughbred race horse who, in 2005, won two of America's classic races, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes...
. He finished seventh in the 2005 Belmont Stakes
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...
, 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
Strub Stakes
The Strub Stakes is an American race for thoroughbred horses run at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California each year.Currently a Grade II stakes race with a purse of $300,000, it is open to horses, age four, willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the synthetic surface of Santa Anita and offers...
at Santa Anita Park
Santa Anita Park
Santa Anita Park is a thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent racing events in the United States during the winter and in spring. With its backdrop of the purple San Gabriel Mountains, it is considered by many as the world's most beautiful race...
. After that, he was raced in the prestigious Grade I
Graded stakes race
A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...
Santa Anita Handicap
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 is considered the most important race for older horses in North America during the winter racing season...
, where he finished 5th and was never a threat in the race. After a four month layoff, Giacomo came back strong on July 22, 2006 with a win in the San Diego Handicap
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 on Polytrack synthetic dirt...
by a head. The victory was followed by an unimpressive 5th in the Pacific Classic Stakes
Pacific Classic Stakes
The Pacific Classic Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race for runners aged 3-year-old or up run at the classic American distance of a mile and a quarter...
and a show in the Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap
Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap
The Goodwood Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race run annually since 1982 during the Oak Tree Racing Association at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California....
, losing to Lava Man
Lava Man
Lava Man is a dark bay thoroughbred gelding by Slew City Slew out of L'il Ms. Leonard . He who rose from the lowest levels of race horse claiming races to become regarded by many racing fans and members of the racing media as a legend in his own time...
for the 3rd time in 4 races. Despite the fact that Giacomo had only won two stakes races, he was entered into the incredibly strong 2006 Breeders' Cup Classic
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 1¼ miles on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships...
field, where he would face his old rival Lava Man as well as other top horses such as Bernardini
Bernardini
Bernardini is a thoroughbred race horse foaled on March 23, 2003 at Darley Stable in Kentucky. A son of A.P. Indy, he is out of Cara Rafaela who won almost a million dollars over the course of her racing career...
and the eventual winner Invasor
Invasor (horse)
Invasor is a Thoroughbred racehorse bred in Argentina by Haras Clausan. The winner of the 2005 Triple Crown in Uruguay, he was later purchased by Sheik Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum who paid approximately USD 1.4 million for the horse...
. Giacomo was never a contender in the race, but he closed well to finish in 4th.
After the race, it was announced that Giacomo would be retired to stud, and will stand at Adena Springs in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, putting an end to his racing career.
The gray
Gray (horse)
Gray or grey is a coat color of horses characterized by progressive silvering of the colored hairs of the coat. Most gray horses have black skin and dark eyes; unlike many depigmentation genes, gray does not affect skin or eye color Their adult hair coat is white, dappled, or white intermingled...
stallion is owned by his breeder
Breeder
A breeder is a person who practices the vocation of mating carefully selected specimens of the same breed to reproduce specific, consistently replicable qualities and characteristics....
, Jerry Moss
Jerry Moss
Jerome S. "Jerry" Moss is an American recording executive, best known for being the co-founder of A&M Records, along with trumpeter and bandleader Herb Alpert....
, who may be better known for co-founding A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
with trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
er Herb Alpert
Herb Alpert
Herbert "Herb" Alpert is an American musician most associated with the group variously known as Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass, or TJB. He is also a recording industry executive — he is the "A" of A&M Records...
. Giacomo was named after the son of Sting, who recorded for A&M both solo and with The Police
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...
, rather than for the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
. Giacomo's half-brother, Tiago
Tiago (horse)
Tiago, , is an American Thoroughbred Stallion Racehorse. His sire is the 1992 U.S. Outstanding Older Male Horse, Pleasant Tap. His dam is the stakes winning mare Set Them Free, by Stop The Music, making him a half-brother to the 2005 Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo...
, is also a race horse. Interestingly Giacomo and Tiago both mean James, the first being Italian and the second, Portuguese.