Saratoga: The Grey Wizard wins by head in Belmont Gold Cup

Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Three gray horses were across the track at the finish line of the two-mile, Grade 2, $250,000 Belmont Gold Cup on Thursday at Saratoga. The exciting finish had to be decided by a photo, and Graham Motion trainee The Grey Wizard hit the wire first after being last in the field of 10 for about 1 1/4 miles and was some 20 lengths behind at the time.

“That was cool. He’s a little bit of a tough horse to watch,” Motion said. “I wasn’t surprised he was that far back. They went quick enough, I was never sure he was going to get there, to be honest. This is what he wants to do, and he’s very good when he gets to do it.”

Click here for Saratoga entries and results.

To complete the marathon race, two laps around the inner turf course were required. As amazing was that The Grey Wizard beat Champagne Juan by a head, and it was another head back to Limited Liability in third.

Two-mile races are very rare in American racing, and in this case, the three horses that set the pace for the first half-mile were quite tired at the end and finished eighth, ninth, and tenth 1 1/2 miles later. Ultimately the trio of early leaders ended up 32, 41 and 54-lengths behind The Grey Wizard.

This was the third race of the year for The Grey Wizard, who was ninth and last in the Elkhorn (G2) at Keeneland in April and improved to third in the Louisville (G2) on May 18.

“His first race (this year) was a complete head-scratcher.” Motion said. ”I couldn’t believe he never got involved in the race. Rather than giving him time, we had to get another race into him. James (Graham) gave him a great ride at Churchill that night. He needed the racing to get him going. He’s a laid-back, two-mile horse.”

The Grey Wizard was third choice in the win pool at odds of 6-1. Along with the $137,500 winner’s share of the purse, the Irish-bred son of Caravaggio was awarded a gold ticket for entry into the 2024 Melbourne Cup. That spectacle of international racing will be run in Australia on Nov. 5 at a distance of 3,200 meters, about 20 yards shy of two miles. Bill as the race that stops a nation, it is limited to 24 horses.

“I love the concept (of going to the Melbourne Cup). I’m huge about international racing,” Motion said. “I love this idea. It’s a huge undertaking to do that, but it’s nice to think about. We thought about it with (Better Talk Now), but it’s tough to do. It’s tough to get handicapped the right way, it’s tough to do the shipping, it’s tough to do the quarantine. But this (victory) is an incentive.”

The Grey Wizard was second in the Belmont Gold Cup last year and was ridden again by John Velázquez. He paid $14.40, $6.10 and $4.00 for a $2 across-the-board wager. Champagne Juan was the 9-2 second choice and completed a $2 exacta of $91. The 11-1 show finisher Limited Liability finished the trifecta that returned $444 for the $2 wager.

“I just wanted to get out, and I finally did at the quarter pole and got home on time,” Velázquez said. “When he’s good, he’s very good.”