All 4 Pletcher entrants belong in Jockey Club Gold Cup
Todd Pletcher will have quality and quantity on his side when he saddles half of the eight-horse field for the Grade 1, $1.25 million Jockey Club Gold Cup on Saturday.
Dynamic One and Untreated, the first- and third-place finishers in the Grade 2 Suburban, Cigar Mile winner Americanrevolution and comebacking longshot Keepmeinmind will attempt to give the Hall of Fame trainer his second Gold Cup win.
Dynamic One faces a rematch with First Captain after outdueling him by a nose in the July 9 Suburban. Success has not come easily for the 4-year-old Union Rags colt. He needed four attempts to break his maiden. He has fared poorly in two previous Grade 1 tries, faltering in 18th in the Kentucky Derby and coming in seventh in the Travers.
On the positive side, Dynamic One comes off consecutive victories, with the June 4 Blame at Churchill Downs preceding the hard-fought Suburban to improve his record to 12: 4-3-1 with $699,950 in earnings for Repole Stable, Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable.
“It seems like he’s a horse on the improve. Each race this year has gotten a little bit better,” Pletcher said of physical and mental maturation. “Hopefully, that continues to be the case.” Dynamic One will break from farthest outside in post eight for jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr.
Although Team Valor International’s Untreated may be the only horse in the field without a graded-stakes win, he cannot be discounted after finishing only three-quarters of a length behind his stablemate in the Suburban. He also settled for third in the May 20 Pimlico Special (G3), a length and a quarter behind First Captain.
“That gives you an idea he fits,” said Pletcher, adding, “I thought he ran well in the Suburban. He just missed. It seems like he, too, is a horse that continues to improve.”
The 4-year-old son of 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist has flashed early speed in his last two starts after coming from off the pace earlier in his nine-race career. He and jockey Jose Ortiz drew post three.
Americanrevolution, the reigning New York-bred Horse of the Year, was entered in the Aug. 6 Whitney before owners WinStar Farm and CHC, Inc. decided to scratch. That left the Whitney in the capable hands of stablemate Life Is Good, who indeed delivered as a heavy favorite.
“He was doing well,” Pletcher said of Americanrevolution. “It was certainly tempting to run them both. With Life Is Good in there, it was smarter to run Life Is Good and for WinStar to take a chance to win two Grade 1’s.”
Undoubtedly, the barn has a fresh horse in Americanrevolution, who drew post five for jockey Joel Rosario. He has made only two starts this season, placing second to Gold Cup rival Olympiad in the July 2 Stephen Foster (G2) at Churchill Downs in his most recent effort.
Pletcher likes the fact that Americanrevolution is so lightly raced as he attempts the classic distance of a mile and a quarter for the first time. “We felt like by running in the Whitney, it might compromise his chances in the Jockey Club,” he said.
Keepmeinmind, owned by Cypress Creek Equine, Arnold Bennewith and Spendthrift Farm, will be making his second start for Pletcher. He returned from an 11-month layoff to capture a first-level allowance race on July 22 at Saratoga, earning a 94 Beyer Speed Figure. The Laoban colt was winless last year at 3, prompting the trainer change.
“I thought he had a good comeback race,” Pletcher said. “He’s a pretty straightforward horse in his training. It’s been a pretty straightforward transition.”
Pletcher registered his lone Gold Cup win with Happy Saver at Belmont Park in 2020. He had missed the year earlier when Vino Rosso was disqualified to second for bumping Code of Honor in a controversial decision. Vino Rosso went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
The Gold Cup will be run for the 104th time. The race was shifted to Saratoga last year to add spice to the final weekend of the immensely popular meet.