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Gary Fenton and Billy Koch have been sports fans long enough to know the cliché about Father Time being undefeated.

“I can say that about me for sure,” joked Koch, who is 56.

But the two men also know some individuals can delay the inevitable for years far beyond the norm. Someone like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Or Tom Brady. Or LeBron James. Or Gold Phoenix.

Wait, who?

Gold Phoenix is an 8-year-old gelding Fenton and Koch — managing partners of the Little Red Feather Racing Stable — purchased five years ago in his native Ireland. Since making his U.S. debut in January 2022, he has won a dozen races, all but one in a graded stakes, and earned more than $2.5 million. All of which puts him in great, though not exclusive company.

At about 6:40 p.m. Saturday, however, Gold Phoenix has a chance to separate himself from all but one other thoroughbred who has competed in North America. Should he win the $300,000 Del Mar Handicap, Gold Phoenix will join the legendary Kelso as the only horses to win the same major stakes race on this continent in five straight years. (Kelso, a five-time Horse of the Year, won the Jockey Club Gold Cup from 1960-64 at Aqueduct.)

“I got the chills when you said it,” Koch said. “To be even mentioned in the same breath as a horse like Kelso … that’s something that only happens once in a lifetime.”

Gold Phoenix is the 5-2 morning-line favorite, but the Grade 2 race is hardly a walkover. There are multiple stakes winners in the field, led by Test Score, the early second choice at 3-1. The 4-year-old is trained by Graham Motion, who has his own impressive streak: Seven straight summer stakes wins at Del Mar dating to 2022 — which is also the year Gold Phoenix won this 1 3/8-mile race for the first time.

Another victory would be the gelding’s seventh stakes win here, extending the record he set last month in the Eddie Read Stakes, which Koch and Fenton, in separate interviews, ranked among their favorite performances. At 1 1/8 miles, the race was shorter than Gold Phoenix prefers, and he had to beat a field that included another Del Mar specialist, Formidable Man.

“To see him come charging home just brought out all the emotions of what we’ve seen, not just from him [anywhere], but on this racetrack here at Del Mar that he absolutely loves,” Fenton said.

The victory was a close one, but that’s typical for Gold Phoenix, who has seven wins by a nose, head or neck and only one by more than 1¼ lengths. His competitiveness is apparent at any distance and under any jockey: He’s won races as short as 7 furlongs and as long as 1¾ miles, and all seven men to ride him earned at least one victory (his current rider, Hector Berrios, is four for five).

“He’s just such a cool horse,” Koch said, noting the gelding is known around the barn as “Clifford the Big Red Dog” because of his chestnut coat and a temperament Fenton describes as “sweet.”

But other horses like that, or those that are completely the opposite, don’t have Gold Phoenix’s success rate or longevity. That’s where Fenton made a human comparison.

“I’m going to say he’s like LeBron,” Fenton said, “in that as he’s been able to age, his body, his athleticism, have maintained at a very, very top level with very [few] issues. He’s been relatively sound all this time.”

Fenton and Koch are quick to credit trainer Phil D’Amato and his barn staff for their overall management, spacing out his races and giving Gold Phoenix time off each year after the Breeders’ Cup. He had a shorter break this winter — just three months until his first start of 2026 — because, Fenton said, “I think [D’Amato] just thought being at that age, to give him a break and then try to ramp him up, might be a little bit too much. So I think he rolled the dice and kept him in training for as long as he could. And, I mean, here we still are.”

For how much longer? There’s no reason to stop yet. Gold Phoenix already has three victories in 2026, matching his high for any year. And he hasn’t even run in the race he always wins.

“I just want to watch him and see him thrive at this level,” Fenton said, “and the moment he’s not at this level is where it’ll probably be time to wrap it up. But he’s showing no signs of it.”

Said Koch: “People always say, ‘Why are you still running? He’s 8.’ I’m like, what are we supposed to do? The horse might be better now than he was at 7 or he was at 6.”

Koch noted that in his role as board president for CARMA, a nonprofit that provides funding and care of retired California racehorses, he hears from many facilities offering to house Gold Phoenix.

“I tell them he’s not ready,” Koch said. “He’ll tell us. They keep asking, [but] somehow he’s managed to dodge Father Time. I don’t know how, but he has.

“We’ll figure it out. He’s going to go to a very special home. I promise you that he is going to have a great life. He deserves it.”

Fresh off a two-month stint filming the eighth season of Peacock’s “Love Island USA” in Fiji, Ariana Madix is happy to be back in her own space.

In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.

“I’ve been back and forth and all over the place so much lately,” says Madix from her Los Angeles home. “I’m very excited about all the things that I’m doing with my house. Just little things like I got a new front door. I’m in a nesting phase, I guess, because I’ve been gone for so long.”

The television personality and actor, who made her Broadway debut in “Chicago” in 2024 after capturing attention on Bravo’s “Vanderpump Rules,” recently scored her first Emmy for hosting the wildly popular dating competition show “Love Island USA.” She finds that her summers in Fiji, the show’s filming location, always leave her with a fresh perspective.

“Going back multiple seasons, I see people who are so much younger than me be able to be so honest and forthright with how they feel and what they want,” says Madix. “I just think about back when I was their age, how scared I was all the time to make people mad. I admire them so much for that because it’s hard. I think that they are really brave and it inspires me to be brave.”

With the “Love Island USA” reunion set to air Aug. 31 on Peacock, Madix is enjoying every minute of her downtime. Back in Los Angeles where she’s lived for nearly two decades, her perfect Sunday involves a trip to the barn to ride horses, strolling through the neighborhood she first called home and hitting a club where people actually dance.

10 a.m.: Make a quick breakfast at home

I’m a sleepy person. I can sleep forever, so I have to set a time and be like, we’re going to do something. So I’m getting up at 10 a.m. I feel like that still gives me time to sleep in and feel like I’m still having a relaxing day, but it’s still early enough to do stuff. My breakfast is pretty boring. I just make egg whites at the house. I enjoy breakfast food a lot, but if I want to have an eventful fun day, I need to just get the breakfast out of the way and get some caffeine in me. Because if I dillydally for too long, I’m here all day. I’ll either make an iced Americano with a little bit of almond milk or a cold brew. I don’t do anything hot. It’s against my religion that I made up [laughs].

11 a.m.: Head to the barn to ride horses

I’d get out to the barn in Burbank to go horseback riding. Doing something outdoors, whether it’s riding, going on a hike or literally just touching grass, is a good way to start your day, I feel. Especially in L.A. where we’re spoiled with beautiful weather all the time. I’ve been riding since I was 6 years old. When I lived in New York, it wasn’t something that I really had access to or the funds for, so there was a period of time where I wasn’t riding and I felt like I was really missing that part of myself.

We’re really blessed to have access to riding in L.A. I had my own horse, but he recently retired so he lives in the mountains now, living his best life. So if my trainer has horses that need to be ridden for their own exercise, they’ll put me on one of those.

1 p.m.: Visit my old stomping grounds in Los Feliz

After that, I gotta go home, shower, change and then I gotta eat. I’d go to Los Feliz for some tacos and go for a walk. This is going to sound corny, but I recently tried Guac Daddy with my boyfriend, Dan. We each got like two or three tacos, so we could try a bunch and it was good. Afterward, we’re definitely going to Skylight [Books]. I love the section of the store that has all of the big photography books. I could flip through so many of them, so that’s where I’m going to post up for a little bit, hopefully with an iced coffee in hand. I saw something on TikTok where someone said our need for a walk-around beverage is emotionally regulating, so I think that’s a key part of this whole experience.

5 p.m.: Take a power nap before grabbing drinks at a rooftop

I think this is about the time where I need a nap, especially if I’m going to continue doing other things. If I can get a good power nap in, I’m ready to transition into more nighttime vibes. I want to try to be out of the house having a little sunset drink and I want to be somewhere with a good view of the sunset. There are some really cute rooftop spots in the Beverly Hills area. Gemma at the Waldorf Astoria has a really cute rooftop. That’s a good place to have a nice mezcal margarita and watch the sunset. My best friend, Logan, and I like to go somewhere where we say we’re gonna “eat with a fork.” There’s different levels to this. We might get an order of Parmesan fries or have a fish moment like crudo or a fish taco. Something that feels fresh that goes along with the vibe. I’d be here for a couple of hours with Dan and my friends Logan [Cochran], Dayna [Kathan] and Katie [Maloney].

7:30 p.m.: Play old-school games at the Neon Retro Arcade

Dan and I recently had a Sunday Funday in Pasadena. We went to this arcade bar called Neon Retro. I love a good pinball machine. They have all these old-school games like the old NBA game and old shooting games. Now that we’re adults and we can get unlimited [tokens], you actually can play long enough to beat some of these games. [Laughs] It’s a lot more satisfying than when we were kids and you’d play once, you’d die and then that’s it. We might get some candy to really feel the arcade vibes. It’s definitely a beer moment though.

10 p.m.: Dance at Club Tee Gee ‘til they kick us out

This is where things diverge because I’d maybe go catch a movie at CityWalk. Or if we’re feeling freaky, we could go to Club Tee Gee in Atwater for some dancing, to really have fun and feel like tomorrow’s not Monday. They always have really good music. I actually celebrated my birthday there a few years ago, which was really fun. They have glitter on the ceiling, which sets the tone immediately, and a lot of big-name DJs who will do secret sets there. It’s a place where people actually go to dance, which I enjoy. It’s not just standing around and looking at people.

2:30 a.m.: Order food off Postmates, then pass out

We’re staying at Club Tee Gee till close, till they kick us out. Then we’re catching a Lyft home and potentially ordering some food off Postmates. I’ve said tacos throughout the day, but I still want them [again] regardless. I think we’re spoiled in L.A. and there’s so many good ones, so I don’t have a favorite. I kind of just go everywhere. If not tacos, I’ll maybe be craving some Thai food. Then I’m passing out right afterward.