Saratoga: Jockey Club Gold Cup post positions and jockeys

Arthur’s Ride, who won a muddy renewal of the Whitney (G1) early this month, is likely to have a fast Saratoga track beneath him Sunday when he starts from the widest post 7 in the Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup for 3-year-olds and up.

After what is likely to be a wet Saturday, the main track should be dry Sunday on what the National Weather Service predicted will be a mostly sunny, 82-degree afternoon.

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The Jockey Club Gold Cup is a win-and-you’re-in qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Classic. So was the Whitney, meaning Arthur’s Ride assured himself of an invitation to the Nov. 2 blockbuster at Del Mar with his wet, 2 1/4-length win Aug. 3.

Owned by Karl and Cathi Glassman and trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, the 4-year-old Tapit colt has won 3 of 4 races this year. He earned Beyer Speed Figures of 111 and 110 in the last two, according to Daily Racing Form. The 111 came in a 12 3/4-length allowance score covering the same course and 1 1/4-mile distance as Sunday’s race. The 1 1/8-mile Whitney was the first stakes for Arthur’s Ride, who will be ridden again by Júnior Alvarado.

Tapit Trice, who won four in a row and then lost his next four, recaptured his old form July 20. That was when Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher brought him back from an 11-month break to win the 1 1/8-mile Monmouth Cup (G3) by 5 1/4 lengths. That performance on the Jersey Shore was graded with a 101 Beyer. The 4-year-old Tapit colt who won last year’s Blue Grass (G1) at Keeneland will go from the rail carrying Irad Ortiz Jr.

Highland Falls, a Brad Cox-trained colt who finished second in the Monmouth Cup, tries Grade 1 competition for the second time. The 4-year-old son of Curlin finished fourth March 3 in the 1 1/4-mile Santa Anita Handicap (G1). He since came in second to Skippylongstocking and got a 104 Beyer in the Oaklawn Handicap (G2) before he won the 1 1/8-mile Blame (G3) on June 1 at Churchill Downs. Flavien Prat has the ride from post 6.

Last year’s Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Bright Future did not find the mud to his liking in the Whitney, finishing eighth of 10. The Curlin entire made his 5-year-old debut June 15 when he won the Salvator Mile (G3) as the even-money favorite at Monmouth Park. That came more than seven months after he made a late run from last place, making up more than 10 lengths, to finish sixth in the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita. Jockey Javier Castellano and Bright Future will start from post 3.

Pyrenees was on a four-race winning streak before he settled for second in the 1 1/8-mile Stephen Foster (G1) on June 29 at Churchill Downs. Trained by Cherie DeVaux, the 4-year-old colt by Into Mischief broke his maiden on his fifth try and then added two allowance wins on wet tracks before his narrow triumph in the 1 3/16-mile Pimlico Special (G3). Brian Hernandez Jr., who has ridden all four of Pyrenees’s wins, will take him from post 5.

Disarm, who got nearly nine months off after his runner-up performance in last year’s Travers (G1), rallied to finish fourth in the Whitney. The 4-year-old Gun Runner colt trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen began his 2024 with an allowance win at Churchill Downs and followed that with a sixth-place finish in the Stephen Foster. Joel Rosario rides the 2023 Matt Winn (G3) victor from post 4.

Kuchar finished a distant fifth last out in the Monmouth Cup six weeks after coming in a much closer fifth in the 1 1/4-mile Suburban (G2) at Saratoga. In six starts this year for trainer Rudy Rodríguez, the 5-year-old Uncle Mo entire has won twice, both 1 1/8-mile allowance races at Aqueduct. Luis Sáez will race Kuchar from post 2.

The Jockey Club Gold Cup is the 12th race on Sunday’s card, which starts at 12:05 p.m. EDT. The feature is set for 6:15 p.m.