SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Coming off his dominant, front-running victory in the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes here four weeks ago, Arthur’s Ride will look to further raise his profile in the older male dirt division when he starts as the likely favorite in Sunday’s Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga.
Arthur’s Ride will look to become the first horse since Colonial Affair in 1994 to win the Whitney and Jockey Club Gold Cup in the same year. Since then, only nine horses have even tried to achieve the prestigious double, the last being Diversify in 2018. The Gold Cup had been run at Belmont Park in the early fall before being moved to Saratoga in 2021.
It is the stamina that Arthur’s Ride has that made the Gold Cup a target for trainer Bill Mott after a devastating 12 3/4-length allowance win June 7 during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival held at Saratoga. Mott said the Grade 1 Whitney was his way of getting Arthur’s Ride to this race.
“It was a pretty strong field. We have to be pleased that he was able to beat that group,” said Mott, who noted that Skippylongstocking, fifth in the Whitney, came back to win the Charles Town Classic. “Then Skippy came back and ran well in a different style race. We took his style away from him in the Whitney.”
Junior Alvarado was intent on getting Arthur’s Ride to the lead in the Whitney. Mott didn’t commit to doing that again on Sunday though; aside from maybe Kuchar, Arthur’s Ride does look to be the primary speed in the field.
“I don’t think he has to be on the lead. He’s a big, long-striding horse that’s got a good cruising speed whether he’s laying second, third, or on the lead,” Mott said. “I don’t know that it would really matter. I guess where he breaks and wherever he’s comfortable.”
The Jockey Club Gold, which goes as race 12 on a 13-race card that begins at 12:05 p.m., offers a fees-paid berth into the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic to be run Nov. 2 at Del Mar.
Bright Future won the Jockey Club Gold Cup last year before finishing sixth, beaten 3 3/4 lengths in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He won the Salvator Mile at Monmouth in June before finishing eighth in the Whitney, a race run over a sealed muddy track.
Todd Pletcher, trainer of Bright Future, said jockey Javier Castellano told him Bright Future wasn’t handling the track well in the warm-ups and that translated to a poor performance in the race. Because of the spotty way Bright Future ran in the Breeders’ Cup and again in the Salvator Mile, Pletcher is adding blinkers to the 5-year-old son of Curlin’s equipment on Sunday.
“Some of the Curlins we’ve had over the years, we’ve made some blinkers on, blinkers off moves and it seemed to help at times,” Pletcher said. “I think with an older horse it may be a bit of a wake-up call.”
Pletcher will also send out Tapit Trice, a horse who won the Grade 1 Blue Grass at 3 before finishing seventh in the Kentucky Derby. He would finish third in the Belmont Stakes and Travers before going to the sidelines. In his lone start this year, Tapit Trice won the Monmouth Cup on July 20 by 5 1/4 lengths.
“I thought it was an excellent comeback and a mile and a quarter suits him very well,” Pletcher said. “I don’t love the one post for him, he seems to do his best running in the clear, but hopefully we can work our way into that position.”
Irad Ortiz Jr. rides Tapit Trice from the rail.
Highland Falls finished second as the favorite in the Monmouth Cup. Trainer Brad Cox wasn’t thrilled with the trip Highland Falls got that day under Florent Geroux. On Sunday, Flavien Prat, the leading stakes rider at this meet, has the call.
“I didn’t think the race unfolded like I thought it would on paper. I think he would have been a little closer at the finish if maybe we were a little bit more aggressive early,” Cox said. “I don’t expect to be on the lead Sunday, but I expect to break and go forward and let him get into a good rhythm. Based on pedigree and what he’s shown us, he can stay the mile and a quarter.”
Pyrenees won the Grade 3 Pimlico Special over Kingsbarns before finishing second to that since-retired rival in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster. Trainer Cherie DeVaux believes Pyrenees will be well suited to the 1 1/4-mile distance of the Gold Cup. Brian Hernandez Jr. has the call from post 5.
Disarm, fourth in the Whitney, is seeking his first stakes victory since he won the Grade 3 Matt Winn at Churchill in June of 2023. Kuchar finished fifth in both the Suburban and Monmouth Cup in his two most recent starts.
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