Golden Act was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Thoroughbred

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...

 racehorse

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

. Sired by Gummo, a grandson of Nasrullah who was a son of the extremely important sire, Nearco

Nearco

Nearco was an Italian bred Thoroughbred racehorse described by Thoroughbred Heritage as "one of the greatest racehorses of the Twentieth Century" and "one of the most important sires of the century." He was not only unbeaten, winning 14 races at distances from 5 furlongs to 1 mile 7 furlongs ,...

, he was out of the mare

Mare (horse)

A mare is an adult female horse or other equine.In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse age three and younger. However, in Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four years old; in harness racing a mare is a...

 Golden Shore.

Conditioned in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 by trainer Loren Rettele, at age two Golden Act's most important stakes results were a win in the El Camino Stakes and a second to Flying Paster

Flying Paster

Flying Paster was an American Thoroughbred racehorse bred in California by his owner, Bernard J. Ridder of the Knight Ridder newspaper chain...

 in the Norfolk Stakes. At age three, he was a standout in American racing but was overshadowed by Spectacular Bid

Spectacular Bid

Spectacular Bid was an American Thoroughbred race horse. "The Bid" as he was known was one of the most dominant gallopers of his time...

, a future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...

 inductee and a horse ranked No.10 in the Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century

Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century

In 1999, a panel for The Blood-Horse magazine was made up of distinguished horse racing people: Howard Battle, Lenny Hale, Jay Hovdey, William Nack, Pete Pedersen, Jennie Rees and Tommy Trotter. These experts compiled a list of what they considered to be the top 100 United States thoroughbred...

.

In the leadup to the 1979 U.S. Triple Crown series, Golden Act finished second in the California Derby

California Derby

The California Derby is a race for Thoroughbred horses held early in the year at Golden Gate Fields. An ungraded stakes, it's open to three-year-olds willing to race one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt...

 at Golden Gate Fields

Golden Gate Fields

Golden Gate Fields is an American horse racing track straddling both Albany, California and Berkeley, California along the shoreline of San Francisco Bay adjacent to the Eastshore Freeway in the San Francisco Bay Area...

 in the San Francisco Bay Area

San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...

. He then won the Louisiana Derby

Louisiana Derby

The Louisiana Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Louisiana. Usually run in early March, the race is open to horses, age three, willing to race 11/8 miles on the dirt. A Grade II event, it currently offers a purse of...

 at the Fair Grounds Race Course

Fair Grounds Race Course

Fair Grounds Race Course, often known as New Orleans Fair Grounds, is a thoroughbred racetrack and racino in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is operated by Churchill Downs Louisiana Horseracing Company, LLC....

 in New Orleans and in April was sent to Oaklawn Park

Oaklawn Park

Oaklawn Park is an American thoroughbred racetrack in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It is the home to The Racing Festival of the South.In 2009, the Horseplayers Association of North America introduced a rating system for 65 Thoroughbred racetracks in North America. Of the top Ten, Oaklawn was ranked...

 in Hot Springs, Arkansas

Hot Springs, Arkansas

Hot Springs is the 10th most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Garland County, and the principal city of the Hot Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area encompassing all of Garland County...

 where he won the Arkansas Derby

Arkansas Derby

The Arkansas Derby is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It is currently a Grade I race run over a distance of 9 furlongs on dirt....

.

1979 Triple Crown

Golden Act was ridden by future U.S. and Canadian Hall of Fame jockey

Jockey

A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...

, Sandy Hawley

Sandy Hawley

Desmond Sanford "Sandy" Hawley, CM is a Hall of Fame jockey.Sandy Hawley started out as a plumber then later decided to be a jockey. He started his career as a jockey when he was a 17-year-old boy, hotwalking horses at a Toronto racetrack...

. In the 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...

, they were up against a strong field that was led by the overwhelming favorite, Spectacular Bid, and which included the second betting choice, Flying Paster

Flying Paster

Flying Paster was an American Thoroughbred racehorse bred in California by his owner, Bernard J. Ridder of the Knight Ridder newspaper chain...

, and the well regarded General Assembly

General Assembly (horse)

General Assembly was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred and raced by the prominent husband-and-wife team of Bertram and Diana Firestone, of Upperville, Virginia. General Assembly was out of the mare Exclusive Dancer, daughter of Hall of Fame inductee and American Horse of the Year...

. Sent off at 19:1 odds, Golden Act finished a solid third behind General Assembly and winner Spectacular Bid.

At Pimlico Race Course

Pimlico Race Course

Pimlico Race Course is a horse racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland, most famous for hosting the Preakness Stakes. Its name is derived from the 1660s when English settlers named the area where the facility currently stands in honor of Olde Ben Pimlico's Tavern in London...

 in Baltimore, Maryland for the second leg of the Triple Crown, jockey Hawley brought Golden Act from the back of the field to finish in second place to Spectacular Bid in the 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...

. In New York's

Elmont, New York

Elmont is an unincorporated census-designated place located in the northwest corner of the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, along its border with the borough of Queens in New York City...

 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...

, the final leg of the Triple Crown, Golden Act used another strong stretch drive to overtake Spectacular Bid and finish second to upset winner, Coastal

Coastal (horse)

Coastal was an American thoroughbred stallion racehorse. He was sired by U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Majestic Prince out of the mare, Alluvial, who was in turn was sired by U.S. Racing Hall of Fame stallion, Buckpasser. He was a half-brother, thru Alluvial, to Slew o' Gold.Owned by William...

.

Golden Act went on to win 1979's Secretariat Stakes

Secretariat Stakes

The Secretariat Stakes is a Grade 1 flat horse race in the United States for three-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run over a distance of 1¼ miles . Held annually in mid August, it is the brother of both the Arlington Million and the Beverly D...

 and Lawrence Realization Stakes

Lawrence Realization Stakes

The Lawrence Realization Stakes was an American horse race first run on the turf in 1889. The race, for three-year-old Thoroughbred colts, geldings and fillies, was last run in 2005.-History:...

, and in November's prestigious Canadian International Stakes

Canadian International Stakes

The Canadian International Stakes is a $2 million Grade I Canadian stakes race on Turf for thoroughbred racehorses three years of age and up held annually in October at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario....

 on turf

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

 at Woodbine Racetrack

Woodbine Racetrack

Woodbine Racetrack is a Canadian racetrack for Thoroughbred horse races located at 555 Rexdale Blvd. in the city of Toronto, Ontario. It is the only horseracing track in North America which stages, or is capable of staging, thoroughbred and standardbred horseracing programs on the same day...

 in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, he defeated an international field that included Trillion

Trillion (horse)

Trillion was a French Thoroughbred racing mare who was an Eclipse Award winner in the United States. Bred in Kentucky by Texas oilman, Nelson Bunker Hunt, she was sired by Hail To Reason, the Leading sire in North America in 1970. Her dam, Margarethen, was a durable racing mare who won sixteen of...

, a multiple stakes winner from France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. At age four, Golden Act returned to racing, with his best results coming in two Grade I races, the 1980 Turf Classic Invitational Stakes where he finished second, and the Man o' War Stakes

Man O' War Stakes

The Man o' War Stakes is a Thoroughbred horse race at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Now Raced in July, it is a Grade I event offering a purse of $500,000 and is open to horses three-years-old and up. Run at one and three-eighths mile on the grass, the race sometimes attracts top European horses...

 where he ran third.

Retired to stud

Horse breeding

Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses...

 duty, Golden Act sired a number of winners, notably Silver Circus, a winner of the Grade I Hollywood Derby

Hollywood Derby

The Hollywood Derby is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in late November/early December at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. The race is open to horses, age three willing to race a mile and a quarter on turf. It currently offers a purse of ...

, and the successful steeplechase

Steeplechase

Steeplechase may refer to:* Steeplechase, an event in horse racing* SteepleChase, a Danish jazz label* Steeplechase , a 1975 arcade game released by Atari...

 runner, Almost Golden.

Golden Act died at the age of twenty-four on May 8, 2000 at Cardiff Stud Farm in Creston, California

Creston, California

Creston is a census-designated place in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. It is located about 15 miles southeast of the City of Paso Robles.-History:Creston Creston is a census-designated place in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. It is located about 15 miles...

.