Ridden by jockey Rene Douglas, the bay son of Touch Gold   stalked the early pace of :23 4/5, :47 4/5 and 1:12 1/5 set by Big Top Cat before slipping inside along the rail and taking command from his laboring rival at the top of the stretch. Under little more than a hand ride, Golden Shine passed the eighth pole in 1:37 3/5 before stopping the clock in 1:44 over a main track listed as fast.

Trainer David Hofmans said Golden Shine would make his next start in the March 19 San Felipe Stakes (gr. II).

"He's a lot like his father except he's a lot stronger," trainer Hofmans said. "He really showed he was a good one today."

Ohio-bred Golden Shine was purchased for $130,000 out of the Keeneland September yearling sale in 2003 with a potential Triple Crown run in mind, according to bloodstock agent Bob Feld, who selected the colt for the Amermans.

"Our goal when we go to the Keeneland sale is to find a Kentucky Derby-type horse," Feld explained. "And that's what we found with him and (grade I winner) Siphonic a few years ago. It's the kind of program where we only buy four or five colts a year with these expectations. So to find two like that with such a limited number when a lot of other people buy at least 20 a year is incredible."

After breaking his maiden in July at Hollywood Park by four lengths, Golden Shine soon went to the sidelines with sore shins.

"He hurt one shin worse than the other," Hofmans explained. "The Amermans agreed to give him plenty of time to get over that; in fact they insisted on it."