Saratoga‘s GI Jockey Club Gold Cup shapes up as one of the season’s most competitive races Sunday, with the “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic drawing a formidable field of seven after Banishing’s scratch.
The depth is remarkable — six of the remaining contenders have posted Beyer Speed Figures of 104 or higher this year, with three already securing Grade I victories this season.
‘TDN Rising Star’ Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) headlines the field after overcoming early-season challenges. The reigning Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and champion 3-year-old male returned from a foot issue in the GII New Orleans Classic in March, finishing third to Touchuponastar. After a runner-up effort to Mindframe in the GI Stephen Foster Stakes, the $2.3-million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga purchase captured the GI Whitney Stakes on August 2, covering his final three-eighths in a powerful :36.63.
“He’s rounding back into form, and I think we have him right back where he was last year towards the end of the year,” said trainer Chad Brown. “I didn’t think he’d run enough, so one more start will do him good. He seems to like a mile and a quarter.”
Mindframe (Constitution), another ‘TDN Rising Star,’ makes his first Saratoga appearance since finishing second in last year’s GI Belmont Stakes. The Maryland-bred has compiled an impressive 2025 campaign, winning the GII Gulfstream Park Mile before defeating Banishing and Nysos in the GI Churchill Downs Stakes. He enters the Gold Cup fresh, having skipped the Whitney.
“A big part of us not running Mindframe back in the Whitney was that he’s coming off a couple huge efforts,” explained trainer Todd Pletcher. “We felt like the extra time would do him well and we wanted to get a mile-and-a-quarter race into him prior to the Breeders’ Cup.”
Pletcher also saddles Antiquarian (Preservationist), who finished second to Phileas Fogg in the GII Suburban Stakes over the same course and distance on July 4.
Highland Falls (Curlin) attempts to become the first repeat Gold Cup winner since Tonalist in 2014-2015. After disappointing in last year’s Breeders’ Cup, the chestnut won an Aqueduct allowance in June before finishing second in the Whitney.
“At the eighth pole, I thought he may win it,” said Michael Banahan, director of bloodstock for Godolphin USA. “He just got run down by a Breeders’ Cup Classic winner. There’s no shame in that at all. That was probably one of the strongest older division races of the year.”
White Abarrio (Race Day), winner of this year’s GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational with a 109 Beyer, enters off consecutive fourth-place finishes in the GI Metropolitan Handicap and Whitney.
“I love him right now,” trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. said. “He’s given us the confidence to feel that way, and I hope everything continues that way so we get to see the White Abarrio that’s so good when he is.”
Historically, only Cigar (1995), Skip Away (1997) and Curlin (2007) have completed the Jockey Club Gold Cup/Breeders’ Cup Classic double since the championships began in 1984.
Italian Riders Dominate Del Mar Derby Picture
Antonio Fresu and Umberto Rispoli — sitting second and fifth in the Del Mar jockey standings entering Saturday’s Pacific Classic card — each hold strong chances in Sunday’s GII Del Mar Derby for trainer Phil D’Amato.
Fresu partners with 2-1 morning-line favorite Iron Man Cal (Collected), winner of last year’s GIII Zuma Beach Stakes via disqualification and narrow runner-up in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. After finishing fourth in the GI American Turf at Churchill, the colt stumbled badly at the start of the opening-day Oceanside Stakes but rallied strongly to just miss catching Game Warrior.
The Padre (Ire) (Ghaiyyath {Ire}), purchased by Little Red Feather Racing after winning his maiden over 10 furlongs at Dundalk, finished second with Fresu aboard in a Santa Anita allowance before capturing the LaJolla Handicap under Rispoli on August 3, defeating Freedom’s Not Free while receiving four pounds.
