Godolphin's Highland Falls (Curlin) outdueled favored Arthur's Ride (Tapit) and strode home an easy winner of the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup Sunday at Saratoga. The 4-year-old earned his first top-level victory, as well as an automatic berth in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, and gave jockey Flavien Prat his record-setting 13 graded win of the meeting.
Arthur's Ride, coming off a win in the GI Whitney Stakes, rushed up and over from his outside post and had a clear advantage heading into the first turn through an opening quarter in :23.25, but Highland Falls inched up to be a menacing presence just to his outside and hounded the flashy gray through a half in :47.67 and three-quarters in 1:11.31. Highland Falls rolled up to put his head in front midway on the far turn and, while Arthur's Ride attempted to fight his way back to the lead in upper stretch, the 7-1 shot found another gear with a furlong to run and strode home a four-length winner. Pyrenees (Into Mischief) closed to be second while never threatening the winner. Disarm (Gun Runner) just nipped Tapit Trice (Tapit) for third and Arthur's Tale tired to fifth.
“I thought if one horse could handle the distance, it was him,” Prat said of Highland Falls, who was making his second try at 1 1/4 miles following a fourth-place effort in the GI Santa Anita Handicap in March. “We wanted to break running and then try to make a good pace. That was the case, and we got past the wire for the first time, it felt like Arthur's Ride was going a bit quicker, easier than me, so I don't need to go on, but I was able to get him outside after that and give him another push. He was just a well of stamina.
“I wanted to get him into a good rhythm and get him running going into the first turn, and I didn't want to let Arthur's Ride get an easy lead. And then, that was it.”
Arthur's Ride was made the 4-5 favorite in the Gold Cup off of a pair of dominant front-running victories, so winning trainer Brad Cox admitted to some anxious moments watching the battle up front.
“I was hopeful. I don't know if I would use the word 'confident,'” Cox said of Highland Falls's match-up with Arthur's Ride. “[Arthur's Ride] has been awful impressive up here in his last two races. If you don't get any pressure [on Arthur's Ride] and you're on a loose lead–he's obviously proved he's a Grade I horse. We weren't going to let him just walk the dog. We wanted to be aggressive, and it paid off for us.”
Cox added, “We were head-and-head with him and I thought, at the three-eighths pole, Flavien gave him every chance to win the race. When they straightened up, it looked like he was getting the better of him and then I started watching the horses coming from the back–watching Disarm, Pyrenees and the horses I thought might be closing late. He held them at bay. I was very proud of the effort.”
Of the beaten favorite, trainer Bill Mott said, “The horse ran hard last time. Now we have 60 days back to the Breeders' Cup. We'll have time to regroup. Hopefully, he comes back good, and we can move forward and try to train for that.
“I knew they would try to keep him [Highland Falls] up in the race. I don't think it was any secret. Frankly, I was a little surprised they were able to keep him there that close. He took it to us. I don't have any big excuse.”
In addition to the graded-stakes record, the win gave Prat a record-extending 17th stakes win of the Saratoga meeting. He had set the record with his 16th stakes win of the season in the GIII Saranac Stakes Friday.
“It's a great honor,” Prat said of the records. “It's obviously a great group of riders and very talented riders. I've been learning a lot around them and it's a team effort. My agent Brad [Pegram] has done an incredible job to book me on very good horses, and trainers and owners give me the opportunity. I'm very thankful.
“That's what's great about Saratoga: everybody comes to the races. You could come on a Wednesday, and there will still be a good crowd and people have a lot of knowledge about racing. I'm very grateful to be part of the whole thing.”
The lightly raced Highland Falls, making just his ninth career start Sunday, opened 2024 with an optional-claimer win at Fair Grounds in January. He made his stakes debut while fourth in the GI Santa Anita Handicap in March and he was second in the Apr. 20 GII Oaklawn Handicap before earning his first graded victory in the June 1 Blame Stakes at Churchill Downs. He was a distant second behind Tapit Trice (Tapit) in the July 20 GIII Monmouth Cup last time out.
The Gold Cup is a 'Win and You're In' challenge race for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic in November at Del Mar.
Asked if he had a plan to get to championship weekend, Cox said, “I don't know. I know he's getting on a van tomorrow and going back to Churchill. We'll come up with a game plan, but he's a cool horse. He's a really nice colt and he's been in training since last summer–or maybe even late last spring. We've spaced his races because he was rolling along this winter. We gave him a shot this winter in a Grade I [Santa Anita Handicap] going a mile and a quarter and I don't think he was quite seasoned enough. We took a shot–he was fourth, it didn't work out at Santa Anita. He's continued to move forward throughout the year.”
Pedigree Notes:
One of 60 graded winners world for Curlin, Highland Falls is his sire's 24th Grade I winner and his second of the Saratoga meet following Raging Sea's win in the GI Personal Ensign Stakes Aug. 23. Highland Falls is the final foal out of 2006 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff winner Round Pond, whose first foal, Long River (A.P. Indy), was third in the 2014 GI Jockey Club Gold Cup before inning the 2017 G1 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 at the age of seven. The mare's unraced daughter Tyburn Brook (Bernardini), produced GI Carter Handicap winner Speaker's Corner (Street Sense).
Highland Falls's graded-placed half-sister Lake Lucerne (Dubawi {Ire}) produced her first foal, a colt by Medaglia d'Oro, this year.
Under the winner's third dam is multiple Grade I winner Nasr El Arab (Al Nasr {Fr}) and multiple Group 1 winners Pennekamp (Bering {GB}) and Black Minnaloushe (Storm Cat).
Sunday, Saratoga
JOCKEY CLUB GOLD CUP S.-GI, $1,000,000, Saratoga, 9-1, 3yo/up, 1 1/4m, 2:03.25, ft.
1–HIGHLAND FALLS, 126, c, 4, by Curlin
1st Dam: Round Pond (MGISW, $1,998,700),
by Awesome Again
2nd Dam: Gift of Dance, by Trempolino
3rd Dam: Coral Dance (Fr), by Green Dancer
1ST GRADE I WIN. O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Flavien Prat. $550,000. Lifetime Record: 9-5-2-1, $1,192,060. *1/2 to Lake Lucerne (Dubawi {Ire}), SW & GSP, $285,074; 1/2 to Long River (A.P. Indy), G1SW-UAE, MSW & GISP-USA, $770,347. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Pyrenees, 126, c, 4, Into Mischief–Our Khrysty, by Newfoundland. ($350,000 RNA Wlg '20 KEENOV; $380,000 RNA 2yo '22 OBSAPR). O/B-Blue Heaven Farm (KY); T-Cherie DeVaux. $200,000.
3–Disarm, 126, c, 4, Gun Runner–Easy Tap, by Tapit. 'TDN Rising Star'. O/B-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Steve Asmussen. $120,000.
Margins: 4, 2 3/4, NO. Odds: 7.00, 10.60, 12.50.
Also Ran: Tapit Trice, Arthur's Ride, Bright Future, Kuchar.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
Flavien Prat continues to make history in #Saratoga by setting the all-time record for stakes wins with his 17th this meet! 🏆👏
He takes HIGHLAND FALLS, 4YO son of @HillnDaleFarm stallion Curlin, to victory in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) for @bradcoxracing and @godolphin! pic.twitter.com/xrdhjDGU0P
— NYRA (🎪) (@TheNYRA) September 1, 2024
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