SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Arthur’s Ride, the Grade 1 Whitney winner who faded to fifth in Saturday’s Jockey Club Gold Cup after dueling with Highland Falls, will train up to the Breeders’ Cup Classic, trainer Bill Mott said Monday.
Mott was naturally disappointed in the result of the Gold Cup, but he said Arthur’s Ride looked good Monday and feels he should benefit from having nine weeks to the Classic.
“I ran him back in four weeks, I knew there was a risk in doing that,” Mott said. “I didn’t want to wait to the Woodward [on Sept. 28] and have him run too big a race and then have to come back [in five weeks]. I hated to see him stagger home like he did.”
Mott said Arthur’s Ride, Flower Bowl runner-up War Like Goddess, and Ballerina runner-up Scylla would all do the bulk of their preparation for their respective Breeders’ Cup races in Saratoga.
“You don’t have to win your last out before the Breeders’ Cup to win it,” Mott said, noting that Elite Power won last year’s BC Sprint after getting beat in the Forego.
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