Black Gold's dam, U-See-it (spelled "Useeit" in registries), was owned by Al Hoots. As a
racemare, U-See-it was not fashionably bred, but she was fast. There was only one horse the
Oklahoma-bred never beat in her 6-
furlong races at small western tracks: the
Hall of Famer
Pan Zareta. U-See-it won 34 races in 132 starts, and her purse money supported Al Hoots and his wife Rosa. The Hootses lived in Indian territory and were well known on the
Texas/
New Orleans racing circuit. In 1916, Al Hoots entered U-See-it into a
claiming race in
Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, where she was claimed. When Hoots refused to give the mare to her new owner, he and U-See-it were banned from racing for life. By 1917, Al was dying. In certain versions of the story, he dreamed that if U-See-it were bred to one of the leading sires of the time, the foal she carried would win the
Kentucky Derby. In other versions, Al merely hoped that this could happen. When oil was discovered in what is now Oklahoma, Rosa Hoots (who was a member of the
Osage Nation) had enough money to ship U-See-it to the
Idle Hour Stock Farm in
Lexington, Kentucky, where
Colonel E. R. Bradley's Black Toney stood at stud. The result was a black colt, who they named "Black Gold" for his color and for the nickname of oil, which had recently been discovered in Oklahoma. Hanley Webb (or Hedley or Harry, depending on the source), who had been a close friend of Al Hoots and also trained U-See-it, was Black Gold's trainer. The man who groomed and exercised him was also his regular jockey,
J. D. Mooney There is also a book called
Black Gold, by
Marguerite Henry and tells about Black Gold's life. The Useeit Stakes is run at
Remington Park in U-See-It's honor. ==Racing career==