Gleam of Hope Upsets Jefferson Cup
A.C. and Clare Asbury’s Gleam of Hope rallied from last place in the field of nine to upset the field in scoring a half-length victory over Psychic Income in the 35th running of the $112,300 Jefferson Cup (GIII) for 3-year-olds on Saturday afternoon at Churchill Downs.
Ridden by E.T. Baird and trained by Tony Reinstedler, Gleam of Hope ran the 1 1/16 miles on a Matt Winn Turf Course rated as “good” in 1:45.61. The victory was worth $66,841 and raised Gleam of Hope’s bankroll to $258,219 with a record of 11-4-1-1.
Gleam of Hope is a homebred son of City Zip out of the Vice Regent mare Victorious Vice.
Lost Aptitude, ridden by Garrett Gomez, led the field through fractions of :24.77 and :50.19. On the far turn, Formulaforsuccess and Corey Nakatani moved to the lead while Baird still had Gleam of Hope last but in the clear.
Turning for home, Baird swung Gleam of Hope eight-wide and swept past the field to secure his first stakes victory at Churchill Downs and the second stakes score for Gleam of Hope, who took the Cradle at River Downs last September.
Gleam of Hope returned $20, $9.60 and $5.80. Psychic Income, ridden by Corey Lanerie, returned $20.20 and $9.40 with favored Asphalt finishing three-quarters of a length back in third under Jose Lezcano and paying $3.60 to show. Completing the field in order were Our Douglas, Lost Aptitude, Guys Reward, Don’t Tell Kitten, Formulaforsuccess, Scottkeith’skitten.
The Jefferson Cup trophy was presented by Hall of Fame jockey Steve Cauthen, who rode the most recent Triple Crown winner, Affirmed, in 1978.
JEFFERSON CUP QUOTES
E.T. BAIRD (jockey, GLEAM OF HOPE, winner): “We put blinkers on him this time and it made him focus a little more and a little more aggressive. The plan was to lay him a little closer today, but the way the race worked out we got pinched back a little bit. He was being aggressive and I didn’t want to fight him the whole way, so I thought the best thing was to lay back and it made him relax.”
TONY REINSTEDLER (trainer, GLEAM OF HOPE, winner): “Before the blinkers he was so far out of his races and he had way more to do. He’s always been a solid horse and he’s shown that. If you look at the past performances he has run against the best and he’s better on the grass than the dirt. I’m real proud of him. He’s responded to what we wanted to do with a turf schedule for this year, and so far it’s working out for us. The Mid-America Triple at Arlington Park will probably be next for him.”
COREY LANERIE (jockey, PSYCHIC INCOME, second): “I had a great trip. I was just stalking on the outside and moved when I was ready. It looked like I was going to run them down.”
JOSE LEZCANO (jockey, ASPHALT, third): “He had good position but I just don’t think he liked the grass.”