After dominating from post 9 in the Whitney (G1), Arthur’s Ride looks like the one to catch from the outermost post in Sunday’s $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at Saratoga. The up-and-coming colt stretched his win streak to two while making his stakes debut in the 1 1/8-mile Whitney over a muddy track on Aug. 3, and Arthur’s Ride will seek to confirm himself as a top contender for the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) at Del Mar in early November.
The Jockey Club Gold Cup will be held at the 1 1/4-mile Classic distance and awards an expenses-paid berth to $7 million race as part of the “Win & You’re In” Breeders’ Cup Challenge series.
A gray four-year-old son of Tapit, Arthur’s Ride has won four of his last five starts for Bill Mott, registering 107 and 106 Brisnet Speed ratings in his last two starts. Junior Alvarado retains the mount.
Tapit Trice will make his second start of the season, returning with a 5 1/4-length score in the July 20 Monmouth Cup (G3), and the late runner will be saving ground from his rail post with Irad Ortiz Jr. Winner of last year’s Blue Grass (G1), Tapit Trice did not go on in his remaining starts as a sophomore, but the gray colt remains eligible to show more as a four-year-old for Todd Pletcher.
Pletcher will also send the defending champion, Bright Future, who scored his biggest career win when prevailing by a nose last year. The five-year-old son of Curlin opened 2024 with an encouraging win in June’s Salvator Mile (G3) at Monmouth, but he didn’t appear to appreciate his first attempt on a wet track finishing far back in the Whitney. The chestnut stalker will seek to rebound with Javier Castellano.
Pimlico Special (G3) winner Pyrenees, last seen finishing second in the Stephen Foster (G1) in late June, will return from a freshening for Cherie DeVaux. Brian Hernandez Jr. guides the early/presser. Grade 3 victor Highland Falls, second as the odds-on favorite in the Monmouth Cup, figures to appreciate the added ground, and Flavien Prat picks up the assignment for Brad Cox. Grade 3 winner Disarm, fourth in the Whitney, and multiple stakes-placed Kuchar complete the field.
One race earlier on the program, the $150,000 Bernard Baruch S. will be offered at 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf, and Fort Washington and Running Bee, dead-heat winners of the Monmouth (G3) in mid-June, highlight seven horses entered for turf.
