The JC Gold Cup – Grade I [BC]
1 1/4 Mile Dirt Stake Purse $1,000.000 Open 3 Year Olds And Up.

1st Spankersville The Sidley Stud Franco M

I think you all know how much I love the older horses, and I haven’t given this one as much airtime as perhaps I should’ve because today he took his second JC Gold Cup got a lot closer to the magic $5,000.000 mark in prize money and earned another entry into the Breeders Cup. Let’s not forget that this multiple stakes winning six-year-old raced ten times as a two-year-old starting on the 1st of April so he hasn’t exactly been wrapped in cotton wool through his 44-race career and with a build that may have kept some from racing him beyond six furlongs he has proved a dour and classy router recording his third grade one win of the season.
A son of Ginger Haggis, he is very much like his Father in that he can run the odd clunker, but he certainly has inherited the class gene and when he is right, he is nearly unbeatable. Today he had no right to win from the car park but didn’t seem to care a lot about the draw running his own race and coming home a one length winner.

2nd Face The Lunatic Martyparty Hernandez R M

Looked like he had come good in the Birdstone last time and ran a very creditable second today surprising me a little despite being the odds monkey’s favorite. He never seems to run a bad race and was rewarded for his consistency today.

3rd Twin Rackets Alydar Stables Bridgmohan S X

The old problem of being a deep closer here as the AI took him far too far back to have any real chance of winning. It is hard to imagine after his huge win in the PA Derby this time last year that he would then go nine more races without a win, but it is very hard for closers on this engine and whilst he deserves credit for running another great finish, one wonders whether he will ever get the timing right in this sort of grade.

4th Dangerous Fugitive Night Rider Stables Beschizza A

Another that got a fair way back and came on well at the end his fourth-place finish was an excellent effort. He seems to change running styles whether by gaming button interaction or just an AI thing and one feels that he may well have finished fourth going on the speed or coming from behind. There is a good win in him when he gets it right.

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES