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Max Player Scores Second BC Classic Spot With Gold Cup Victory

Max Player followed up his last-out neck victory in the Grade 2 Suburban with a dominating win over five others in the 1 1/4-mile Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Under jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr., the 4-year-old Honor Code colt earns a second berth in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

The field of six broke cleanly, with Forza Di Oro, seeking his first Grade 1 win, taking a short lead as Max Player and Santana stalked him on the outside. Around the first turn, Forza Di Oro stretched his lead out to a length, but, after fractions of :24.05 for the first quarter and :48.70 for the first half-mile, Max Player began to press the leader, shortening the margin between them to a neck. Into the far turn, Forza Di Oro was still neck to the good, with Max Player and Happy Saver poised to challenge on the outside.

In the stretch, Max Player pulled even with Forza Di Oro, but the former leader began to tire as Santana asked Max Player to go, easily taking over the lead in the race's final furlongs. The margin of victory was six lengths, Happy Saver passing Forza Di Oro in the final yards to take over second. Night Ops was fourth, with Chess Chief and Forewarned rounding out the field.

The final time for the 1 1/4 miles was 2:02.49 over a fast track. Find this race's chart here.

Max Player paid $9.60, $4.70, and $2.60. Happy Saver paid $3.80 and $2.20. Forza Di Oro paid $2.10 to show.

The G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, new to Saratoga for 2021, is part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series. The winner gets a fees-paid guaranteed spot in the starting gate for the corresponding race at the Breeders' Cup World Championships, to be held Nov. 6 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

“It was beautiful. Max, in the [Grade 1] Suburban [victory], ran that race under different circumstances on an off track. For him to do this on a fast track in the Jockey Club Gold Cup here at Saratoga, it is very satisfying. This is who he is, and I thought it was a dominating win,” trainer Steve Asmussen said after the race.

“I was happy with him,” Santana told the NYRA Press Office after the Gold Cup. “Today, he broke good, so I was really happy with it. The trainer is doing all the [work].”

Bred in Kentucky by K and G Stables, Max Player is out of the Not For Love mare Fools In Love, a black-type stakes winner. Owned by George Hall and SportBLX Thoroughbreds, the 4-year-old was a $150,000 RNA consigned by Lane's End at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The victory in the Jockey Club Gold Cup is Max Player's second win in four starts in 2021 for a lifetime record of four wins in 10 starts.

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Max Player Powers Clear in Jockey Club Gold Cup

George Hall and SportBLX's Max Player (Honor Code) proved his bounce-back GII Suburban S. score in July was no fluke as he again showed more speed and pulled away to an emphatic victory in the repositioned GI Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga. A fringe player on last year's Triple Crown trail, the Steve Asmussen trainee has stamped himself as a legitimate GI Breeders' Cup Classic threat in two strong efforts at 10 furlongs, and earned an automatic berth into the year-end championship event Saturday as part of the “Win and You're In” series.

Scrubbed on by adept gate rider Ricardo Santana, Jr. from the blocks, 7-2 Max Player locked on to even-money Forza Di Oro (Speightstown) through a half in :48.70 and six panels in 1:13.14. The dark bay cranked up the pressure heading for home as last year's Jockey Club winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Happy Saver (Super Saver) loomed a threat just in behind. Forza Di Oro cut the corner and briefly looked like he might open back up, but Max Player hit his stride by midstretch and powered away from there, relishing the real estate, to post the four-length victory. Happy Saver picked off the chalk late for second.

“It was beautiful,” said Asmussen, who took this historic event in both 2007 and 2008 with fellow Hall of Famer Curlin and again in 2010 when it was contested at Belmont Park. “Max, in the Suburban, ran that race under different circumstances on an off track. For him to do this on a fast track in the Jockey Club Gold Cup here at Saratoga, it is very satisfying. This is who he is, and I thought it was a dominating win.”

Saturday, Saratoga
JOCKEY CLUB GOLD CUP S.-GI, $955,000, Saratoga, 9-4, 3yo/up, 1 1/4m, 2:02.49, ft.
1–MAX PLAYER, 126, c, 4, by Honor Code
                1st Dam: Fools in Love (SW, $240,746), by Not For Love
                2nd Dam: Parlez, by French Deputy
                3rd Dam: Speak Halory, by Verbatim
   1ST GRADE I WIN. ($150,000 RNA Ylg '18 KEESEP). O-George E.
Hall & SportBLX Thoroughbreds Corp.; B-K & G Stables (KY);
T-Steven M. Asmussen; J-Ricardo Santana, Jr. $535,000.
Lifetime Record: 11-4-1-2, $1,252,500. *1/2 to Seahenge (Scat
Daddy), GSW & G1SP-Eng, SP-Ire, $228,295; Urban Bourbon
(City Zip), GSP, $113,381. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Happy Saver, 126, c, 4, Super Saver–Happy Week, by
Distorted Humor. 'TDN Rising Star' O/B-Wertheimer Et Frere
(KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $185,000.
3–Forza Di Oro, 126, c, 4, Speightstown–Filare l'Oro, by Hard
Spun. ($325,000 RNA Ylg '18 FTSAUG). O-Don Alberto Stable;
B-Don Alberto Corporation (KY); T-William I. Mott. $100,000.
Margins: 4, HF, HF. Odds: 3.80, 2.10, 1.10.
Also Ran: Night Ops, Chess Chief, Forewarned. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

“I was happy with him. Today, he broke good, so I was really happy with it. The trainer is doing all the [work],” said Asmussen's go-to rider Santana.

Overcoming a tendency to start slow in his early outings, Max Player finished fast to take the GIII Withers S. third out last February for then conditioner Linda Rice. He finished well-beaten thirds behind Tiz the Law (Constitution) in both the GI Belmont S. and track-and-trip GI Runhappy Travers S. over that summer, but was transferred to Asmussen ahead of a fifth-place GI Kentucky Derby run. Fifth in the GI Preakness S. in October, he was shelved until the lucrative Saudi Cup Feb. 20, but that long journey proved fruitless as he checked in a distant 11th.

He once again found himself too far back when sixth in the

GIII Pimlico Special S. May 14, but looked like a different horse from start to finish last time when belying 11-1 odds in defeating subsequently sidelined G1 Dubai World Cup hero Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper) in the July 3 Suburban over a sloppy track.

“I really thought we had a chance with him at Churchill [in the 2020 Kentucky Derby], the way he was training over the track,” Asmussen said. “He lost so much ground early in the race and then fought the dirt from where he was. He didn't even begin to level off until the last eighth of the race and still ended up fifth.

“He likes good spacing between his races. Ricardo has done a tremendous job of putting him into the race, so he can actually perform.

“We went back with him to the gate and started from a hand open, just to leave the gates. Ricardo did a tremendous amount of work with him there and knows the horse really well. It took some riding from Ricardo today in the first three or four jumps but immediately, when he got him going, 50 yards from the gate [I thought] 'you get your chance, I'm glad to see this.'

This has certainly been a meet to remember for Asmussen, who became the all-time winningest trainer in North America last month. He and Santana took both the GI Forego S. and GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S. a week ago, and have live chances in both the GI Spinaway S. and GI Hopeful S. during the final two days of the meet.

“It's been a dream meet. It really has,” he said. “With achieving the record here. With the fans coming back. With how it felt. At Saratoga–not only do you have fans–you have educated fans. They're aware of racing. To set the record here and this is the third Grade I win of the meet. It's been a dream meet and it will be beautiful to reflect on, but we have two Grade Is left before we're there.”

As for the beaten favorite, trainer Bill Mott said, “I'm disappointed that he didn't get the 10 furlongs. I just didn't think he had any excuse. We've got to see. There's another race; the [Oct. 2 GI] Woodward could be a possibility [at 1 1/8 miles], I suppose. But it's a little early to commit to anything.”

Pedigree Notes:

Sire Honor Code displayed his own affinity for the Spa, earning 'TDN Rising Star' status for a debut score on the closing Saturday card in 2013 before adding the GI Whitney S. here two years later. He has added a second and third highest-level winner to his CV as a stallion at the stand, having also been responsible for Santana-piloted GI Coaching Club American Oaks upsetter Maracuja. All three of his graded winners have won at the Grade I level, and he has seven stakes winners overall.

Dam Fools in Love was an $80,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic yearling who racked up a sizable bankroll herself on the track, but has proven even more valuable in the breeding shed. The half-sister to MGISW International Star (Fusaichi Pegasus), from the deep family of Halory Hunter, Van Nistelrooy, et al, produced black-type earners with each of her first three foals, including $750,000 KEESEP yearling and Group 2-winning juvenile Seahenge (Scat Daddy). After foaling Max Player, Fools in Love was put in foal to Speightstown and brought $1 million from Cheveley Park Stud at KEENOV '17. She did not produce a foal in 2018, but is responsible for Ulysses (Ire) colts of 2019 and 2021 and a yearling filly by Frankel (GB).

Not For Love is the broodmare sire of four Grade I winners (10 graded and 63 black-type overall), including dual Horse of the Year California Chrome, a fellow A.P. Indy line product who sired his first graded winner on Saturday's card in GII Prioress S. heroine Cilla.

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Forza Di Oro Gets Acid Test in Jockey Club Gold Cup

Don Alberto Stable's Forza Di Oro (Speightstown) has shown considerable talent in six starts dating back to his debut in September of 2019, and he'll finally get his chance at the highest level as a likely favorite in Saturday's 10-furlong GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, being run at Saratoga for the first time in the race's storied history.

Running a huge race after a disastrous start to be second at 31-1 in his unveiling, the homebred graduated next out, but took a major step backward when finishing eighth, beaten 24 1/4 lengths making his stakes debut in the GII Remsen S. Shelved for over 10 months, he returned last October at Belmont with a game 10-1 first-level allowance score and announced himself as a horse to watch in 2021 when closing out his sophomore season with a powerful 3 3/4-length success in Aqueduct's GIII Discovery S. He faced another setback, however, and went unseen until earlier this meet, returning with a three-length allowance/optional claiming victory in the Spa mud July 21.

Wertheimer and Frere's Happy Saver (Super Saver) will look to become the 11th horse to win back-to-back renewals of the Jockey Club Gold Cup, which has been run since 1919. Named a 'TDN Rising Star' off a powerful 5 1/2-length debut victory last June at Belmont, the chestnut repeated by four lengths in a local allowance and stayed unbeaten with a conquest of the Federico Tesio S. at Pimlico. Rather than attempt the GI Preakness S., trainer Todd Pletcher took on elders in this event and Happy Saver rewarded his confidence with a hard-fought score over fellow 3-year-old and future G1 Dubai World Cup romper Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper). He made his 4-year-old bow with a workmanlike allowance/optional claiming tally May 28 at Big Sandy and ran third with a wide trip last out in the sloppy-track GII Suburban S. there July 3.

“I don't think he ran that badly on an off track last time,” Pletcher told the NYRA notes team. “The way the race unfolded going a mile and a quarter at Belmont and drawing the outside is never a good thing. I thought he ran well all things considered. He kept closing and it was his only his second start of the year, so hopefully he moves forward.”

Besting Happy Saver and Mystic Guide in the Suburban was 11-1 upsetter Max Player (Honor Code), who re-opposes here. An impressive winner of the GIII Withers S. last February, the dark bay ran third in both the GI Belmont S. and GI Runhappy Travers S. and was transferred from Linda Rice to the Steve Asmussen barn to check in fifth in the GI Kentucky Derby and Preakness. Unable to make an impact in the G1 Saudi Cup or GIII Pimlico Special Match Series S., Max Player finally got back to the winner's circle with his resolute neck success in the Suburban.

Rounding out the major contenders is peaking Night Ops (Warrior's Reward) for the skyrocketing Brad Cox barn. Mostly a middling allowance horse for his first two seasons, he scored his first graded stakes win in last summer's GIII Prairie Meadows Cornhusker H. The bay hasn't found the mark in six starts this year, but has racked up four seconds and two thirds, all in stakes races, and is coming off a career-best 101 Beyer when runner-up to last Friday's GII Charles Town Classic hero Art Collector (Bernardini) in the restricted Alydar S. here Aug. 6.

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Happy Saver Will Try To Join Elite Company With Back-To-Back Wins In Jockey Club Gold Cup

Wertheimer and Frere's Happy Saver is out to protect his title and etch his name amongst a quality group of horses to secure multiple triumphs in the Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup for 3-year-olds and upward going 1 ¼ miles at Saratoga Race Course, which will host the 103rd edition on Saturday.

The Jockey Club Gold Cup is a “Win And You're In” qualifier for the Grade 1, $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 6 at Del Mar.

Since its inception in 1919, the Jockey Club Gold Cup has been one of the most prestigious events on New York's racing calendar, won by Hall of Famers Man o' War [1920], Hill Prince [1950], Sword Dancer [1959], Buckpasser [1966], Damascus [1967], Forego [1974], John Henry [1981], Easy Goer [1989], and Cigar [1995].

The great Kelso won the Jockey Club Gold Cup a record five straight years from 1960-64. Nine Kentucky Derby winners have won the prized event, including Triple Crown winners Gallant Fox [1930], Whirlaway [1942], Citation [1948] and Affirmed [1979]. Contested at Belmont Park from 1975-20, the historic event was moved to Saratoga for the first time this year.

Happy Saver, a son of 2010 Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver, will attempt to become the 11th horse to win back-to-back runnings of the Jockey Club Gold Cup, joining Hall of Famers Nashua [1955-56], Shuvee [1970-71], Slew o' Gold [1983-84], Skip Away [1996-97] and Curlin [2007-08]. The most recent horse to secure this task was Belmont Stakes winner Tonalist [2014-15].

Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, Happy Saver was undefeated when taking last year's Jockey Club Gold Cup, engaging in a dramatic stretch duel with Mystic Guide [the subsequent winner of the Group 1 Dubai World Cup] in his first start at graded stakes level. The 4-year-old chestnut colt arose from a seven-month hiatus in style, capturing a one-turn mile allowance optional claiming event on May 28 at Belmont Park in tactical fashion.

Happy Saver finished third last out in the 10-furlong Grade 2 Suburban contested on a sloppy and sealed main track on July 3 at Belmont, finishing 2 3/4-lengths back of returning rival Max Player.

“I don't think he ran that badly on an off track last time,” Pletcher said. “The way the race unfolded going a mile and a quarter at Belmont and drawing the outside is never a good thing. I thought he ran well all things considered. He kept closing and it was his only his second start of the year, so hopefully he moves forward.”

Through a record of 6-5-0-1, Happy Saver has accumulated earnings $374,200. A Kentucky homebred, Happy Saver is out of the stakes-placed Distorted Humor Mare Happy Week. A direct descendant of prolific broodmare Gay Missile, Happy Saver comes from the same extended family as champion and influential stallion A.P. Indy as well as American classic winners Summer Squall and Lemon Drop Kid.

Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., the pilot in all six lifetime starts, retains the mount from post 4.

George E. Hall and Sport BLX Thoroughbreds' Max Player arrives off a victory against Happy Saver in the Grade 2 Suburban, which he won at 11-1 odds for Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen. The son of third-crop sire Honor Code battled gamely with Mystic Guide down the Belmont stretch and came out a neck on top while garnering a career-best 101 Beyer Speed Figure.

Off the board in his four efforts prior to the Suburban, Max Player was a distant third to New York-bred hero Tiz the Law in both the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets and Grade 1 Runhappy Travers last year.

“He's coming off a nice win in the Suburban,” said Asmussen assistant Scott Blasi. “It was nice to see him step up again and run to his ability. This is a logical spot to run him back. He's done well up here, so we'll see how it goes.”

Jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr. will retain the mount from post 2.

Don Alberto Stables' Forza Di Oro brings three straight wins to his first Grade 1 engagement, arriving off a sharp three-length victory in his seasonal debut for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.

The 4-year-old chestnut son of Speightstown, who sired 2010 winner Haynesfield, earned a 101 Beyer Speed Figure when defeating allowance optional claiming company traveling nine furlongs on July 21 over a muddy and sealed Saratoga main track off an eight-month layoff. He recorded the same figure capturing the nine-furlong Grade 3 Discovery on November 28 at Aqueduct in his previous start.

The lightly-raced Forza Di Oro has breezed four times at Saratoga out of his optional-claiming win, including a half-mile breeze in 49.95 seconds on August 29 over the Oklahoma dirt training track.

“I've been pleased with his works, visually,” said Mott, who trained Ron the Greek [2013], Flat Out [2012] and Cigar [1995] to Jockey Club Gold Cup scores. “He's indicating that he needs to be tried in that good company. Knock on wood, we have three days to go so we're hoping to get him over there in good shape.”

Mott is cautiously optimistic about Forza Di Oro's ability to handle the stretch out in distance.

“So far, he hasn't indicated that he can't handle it,” Mott said.

Jockey Junior Alvarado, the rider in all six lifetime starts, will be back aboard from post 1.

Trainer Dallas Stewart will saddle Chess Chief in attempt of his second graded stakes victory this season.

Owned by The Estate of James J. Coleman, Jr., the 5-year-old son of leading sire Into Mischief captured the Grade 2 New Orleans Classic under returning rider Luis Saez on March 20 at Fair Grounds in his most recent victory.

“We feel good about it. He's trained very well up here,” Stewart said. “He's a come-from-behind type of horse so we're just going to let Luis do his thing.”

Saez, the Saratoga meet's leading rider in overall wins and stakes victories, will vie for his third Grade 1 triumph of the meet from post 3.

After capturing the Grade 1 Whitney and Grade 1 Runhappy Travers this meet, Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox will look to end Saratoga on a high note when sending out Night Ops for his Grade 1 debut.

Owned by Steve Landers, the 5-year-old bay son of Warrior's Reward has finished in the money in 11 of his last dozen starts, dating back to a 1 1/16-mile allowance optional claiming triumph in November 2019 at Churchill Downs, besting subsequent graded stakes winner Pirate's Punch.

A winner of the Essex at Oaklawn Park and the Grade 3 Cornhusker at Prairie Meadows in 2020, Night Ops is still in search of his first victory this year but has garnered stakes black type in all six 2021 starts. He commenced his season when third to eventual Grade 1-winner Silver State in stakes company at Oaklawn ahead of four runner-up efforts, most recently in the Alydar on August 6 at the Spa finishing 1 ½ lengths behind Art Collector, who exited that effort to win the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic.

Night Ops boasts the highest bankroll in the field with earnings of $823,656 and a consistent record of 24-6-7-4.

Jockey Manny Franco seeks his second Jockey Club Gold Cup win from post 5.

Completing the field is owner-trainer Uriah St. Lewis' Forewarned, who enters off a close second against fellow Ohio-breds in the Best of Ohio Governor's Buckeye Cup on August 14 at Thistledown.

The eight-time winner and earner of over a half-million dollars will attempt to give St. Lewis a second victory in the Jockey Club Gold Cup after scoring a 45-1 upset in the 2018 running with Discreet Lover. Forewarned will also look to give his dual Jockey Club Gold Cup-winning sire Flat Out his first offspring to win the race. The last Jockey Club Gold Cup winner to sire a winner of the race was Nashua, the father of prominent distaffer and fellow Hall of Famer Shuvee.

Jockey Sonny Leon ships in to ride from post 6.

The Jockey Club Gold Cup is slated as the closing race on Saturday's 12-race program, which also features the Grade 1, $600,000 Flower Bowl Invitational, a “Win And You're In” qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. The stakes-laden card is bolstered by the Grade 2, $250,000 Prioress for sophomore fillies going six furlongs, and the Grade 3, $200,000 Saranac for 3-year-olds colts at 1 1/16 miles over the inner turf. First post is 12:35 p.m. Eastern.

Saratoga Live will present daily television coverage of the summer meet on FOX Sports. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

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