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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The 4-year-old son of third-crop sire Honor Code tracked Moretti's moderate pace and remained in the clear as Mystic Guide made an inside rally around the far turn. Despite Mystic Guide's persistence, Max Player came out on top, besting the odds-on favorite by a neck under jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr.

In capturing the ten-furlong “Win And You're In” qualifier, Max Player earned an automatic entry into the $6 million Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic on November 6 at Del Mar in Del Mar, Calif.

Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, Max Player was winless in his prior half-dozen starts heading into the Suburban with his previous victory taking place in the Grade 3 Withers last February at Aqueduct. He was subsequently third in last year's Grade 1 Belmont Stakes and Grade 1 Runhappy Travers, both of which were won by Tiz the Law.

“He came out of it in good shape, ate up, got a nice little roll in the grass. He's very happy,” said Asmussen's Belmont-based assistant Toby Sheets.

Max Player arrived at the Suburban off a distant sixth in the Grade 3 Pimlico Special on May 14, and shipped straight to Belmont Park, recording five breezes over the training track.

“He gradually improved; he loves it here,” Sheets said. “He got to do some things that helped him. I'm very happy with him. The way he ran shows how he improved.”

The triumph gave Asmussen a second victory in the Suburban after sending out New York-bred Haynesfield to victory in the 2010 edition.

Bred in Kentucky by K & G Stables, Max Player is out of the stakes-winning Not For Love mare Fools in Love, who also produced Seahenge, a Group 2 winner in England.

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“I’m very excited because I haven’t been in the Preakness yet,” said Hall, who won the 2011 Belmont with 24-1 shot Ruler On Ice. “After the Kentucky Derby, he looked like he wanted to keep running. Steve watched him closely, and he was in great shape. He’s galloped well. He’s breezed well. We felt the horse was at the peak of his game and is ready to run.”

Winner of the GIII Withers S. for Linda Rice in February, Max Player finished third in the June 20 GI Belmont S before filling the same position in the GI Travers S. Aug. 8. Transferred to Steve Asmussen, he was fifth in his latest start in the Sept. 5 GI Kentucky Derby. Asmussen previously won the Preakness with Curlin (Smart Strike) in 2007 and again in 2009 with the filly Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d’Oro).

“I really feel like we will be competitive,” said Hall. “If you look at the Belmont S., where we were third, he didn’t have such a great trip. We got really caught behind a lot of horses and had to move around a lot and still wound up being third because he came on so strong at the end. In the Travers, he again came on strong to be third. It’s no shame to lose to Tiz the Law, as everybody knows. We feel like he’s a really good horse. When we started to look at the Preakness, I think the view is that he’s in perfectly good health. He’s in good shape, and he needs to develop. Reviewing the Kentucky Derby, he really came out of the gate slow [from post 1] and was far behind in the first jump. If we can get a little better trip out of the gate, maybe get a better post position and not fall so far behind and give him so much work to do at the end, we think that we can be competitive.”

According to Hall, jockey Paco Lopez will partner the colt for the first time in the Preakness.

“Obviously, we want to stay in the race, but we have to be careful because he is going to be a closer, no matter what,” said Hall. “I’m sure Steve will give Paco the correct instructions.”

Looking farther down the road, Hall added, “He had a long layoff before the Belmont, but then he’s had a robust campaign since,” Hall said. “What’s most important to us is that he stays healthy and has a good 4-year-old and, hopefully, 5-year-old career. We didn’t really think there was negative toward running in the Preakness that would affect his long-term prospects as a 4-year-old. We’re pretty excited about what he’s going to do be doing in the future, too.”

Hall bred Max Player through his K & G Stables, named for his children Katherine and George, with the colt raised on his Annestes Farm in Versailles, Ky. Hall owns 86% of Max Player, with SportBLX Thoroughbreds owning the other 14%. Co-founded by Hall and Joe De Perio, SportBLX Thoroughbreds offers micro-shares in racehorses. More micro-shares in Max Player, which will come out of his majority interest, likely will be available for purchase next week, Hall said.

Asmussen will also run Monmouth Park’s Pegasus S. winner Pneumatic (Uncle Mo) in the Preakness. Joe Bravo will have the mount.

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Owned by George Hall and the SportBLX Thoroughbreds company he co-founded, Max Player finished third in the Belmont Stakes (G1), third in the Travers and most recently fifth in the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby (G1). Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, winner of the 2007 Preakness with Curlin and the 2009 edition with the filly Rachel Alexandra, ran Max Player for the first time in the Derby, with New York-based Linda Rice previously training the Honor Code colt.

Hall won the 2011 Belmont Stakes with 24-1 shot Ruler On Ice. Max Player was his best finish out of four starters in the Kentucky Derby and his first to run in the Churchill Downs classic since Louisiana Derby (G2) winner Pants On Fire came in ninth in 2011.

“I'm very excited because I haven't been in the Preakness yet,” Hall said by phone. “Steve and I stay in close contact. He shares a lot of information with me, and we discuss things. So it's been great. We both agreed we'd take a lot of things into consideration before there was a decision.

“First, and most importantly, how was the horse feeling and was the horse up for it? Because we don't want to do anything that is not in the interest of the horse. After the Kentucky Derby, he looked like he wanted to keep running. Steve watched him closely, and he was in great shape. He's galloped well. He's breezed well. We felt the horse was at the peak of his game and is ready to run.

“The next thing is, are we going to be competitive? I really feel like we will be competitive. If you look at the Belmont Stakes, where we were third, he didn't have such a great trip. We got really caught behind a lot of horses and had to move around a lot and still wound up being third because he came on so strong at the end. In the Travers, he again came on strong to be third. It's no shame to lose to Tiz the Law, as everybody knows. We feel like he's a really good horse.

“When we started to look at the Preakness, I think the view is that he's in perfectly good health. He's in good shape, and he needs to develop. Reviewing the Kentucky Derby, he really came out of the gate slow (from post 1) and was far behind in the first jump. If we can get a little better trip out of the gate, maybe get a better post position and not fall so far behind and give him so much work to do at the end, we think that we can be competitive.”

Paco Lopez, known for getting horses into a race, has the Preakness mount on Max Player, Hall said. “That's what Paco is known for. Obviously, we want to stay in the race, but we have to be careful because he is going to be a closer, no matter what. I'm sure Steve will give Paco the correct instructions.”

Max Player won Aqueduct's 1 1/8-mile Withers Stakes (G3) on Feb. 1 after winning a maiden race at Parx on his second attempt. He did not run again until the June 20 Belmont, which this year also was 1 1/8 miles instead of the traditional 1 1/2-miles because of the COVID-forced changes to the 2020 Triple Crown.

“He had a long layoff before the Belmont, but then he's had a robust campaign since,” Hall said. “What's most important to us is that he stays healthy and has a good 4-year-old and hopefully 5-year-old career. We didn't really think there was negative toward running in the Preakness that would affect his long-term prospects as a 4-year-old. We're pretty excited about what he's going to do be doing in the future, too.”

Hall bred Max Player through his K & G Stables, named for his children Katherine and George, with the colt raised on his Annestes Farm in Versailles, Ky. Hall owns 86 percent of Max Player, with SportBLX Thoroughbreds owning the other 14 percent. Co-founded by Hall with Joe De Perio, SportBLX Thoroughbreds allows people to buy micro-shares in racehorses, similar in basic premise to Myracehorse, a minority owner in Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness favorite Authentic.

More micro-shares in Max Player, which will come out of his majority interest, likely will be available for purchase next week, Hall said.

Asmussen also is running Monmouth Park's Pegasus winner Pneumatic in the Preakness, with Joe Bravo to ride.

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Owned by George Hall and SportBLX Thoroughbreds, Max Player breezed five furlongs in 1:01.55 over the Belmont training track.

“We worked him in company head and head with another horse and they went five-eighths in 1:01.2. It was just a maintenance breeze,” said trainer Linda Rice. “It was just a nice comfortable breeze. I feel it was exactly what he needed. He’ll ship up to Saratoga on Wednesday and train there.”

Bred by Hall’s K & G Stables, Max Player, a $150,000 buyback at Keeneland September in 2018, broke his maiden at Parx at second asking last December, following that effort with a fast-finishing, 3 1/4-length victory in the GIII Withers S. Feb. 1. He was trained up to the Belmont and was beaten 5 1/4 lengths into third.

“He trained very well into the Belmont and had improved dramatically up to June when the Belmont ran,” said Rice. “Since then, we’ve been holding steady. I haven’t trained him quite as aggressively because he’s not coming off of a five-month layoff this time.”

The in-form Joel Rosario retains the call this weekend.

In other Travers developments:

–Trainer Orlando Noda has tabbed David Cohen to ride recent Saratoga maiden winner First Line (First Samurai) in the 10-furlong event. Cohen was aboard Golden Ticket (Speightstown) when he dead-heated with Alpha (Bernardini) in the 2012 Travers.

—‘TDN Rising Star‘ Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper) will pass the Travers in favor of the GII Jim Dandy S. Sept. 5. “We’ve been conservative with the horse up to this point and we’ll stay conservative for now,” trainer Mike Stidham said of the Godolphin homebred, third to Travers aspirant Country Grammar (Tonalist) in the GIII Peter Pan S. July 16.

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A February 19 assessment by Peter Bradley of bloodstock agency Bradley Thoroughbreds gave Max Player a “Fair Market Value” of $1.75 million, shortly after his 3 1/4-length Withers win at Aqueduct on Feb. 1.

Of course, a lot has changed since mid-February, including Max Player's likely fair market value. The valuation came before the COVID-19 pandemic shuffled the economy and the 2020 racing calendar, especially in the spring, where many traditional Kentucky Derby preps were canceled or postponed, affecting the Honor Code colt's present and future earning potential.

On the other side of the coin, Max Player is now a classic-placed runner after finishing third in the Belmont Stakes on June 20, and the qualifying points he earned in that effort all but clinched a spot in the gate for the Derby in September. Punching that ticket would be worth something to a buyer trying to get in the race, and that possibility is reflected in Bradley's assessment.

Though it's outdated now for the individual, the February valuation can provide a useful – and somewhat rare to the public – snapshot of what a 3-year-old colt in a similar stage of his career might be worth on paper.

The criteria for assigning fair market value to a Thoroughbred can vary from person to person, accounting for differences of opinion, method, and preference. As has been seen in the wide disparity between assessment and value at auction in the Zayat Stables dispersal, a bloodstock agent's valuation is not a binding assignment of value if the parties disagree, but an expert's opinion is an invaluable tool in guiding the conversation between the two sides of a transaction, and for other matters including insurance.

In his correspondence with Joseph De Perio of Sport BLX published on the company's website, Bradley said he reviewed Max Player's race record and pedigree, and assessed the horse's physical conformation through video provided by trainer Linda Rice. Veterinary assessments were not performed as part of the analysis, and Bradley noted that the valuation was based on the colt being “insurable and sound.” Rice vouched for Max Player's soundness and “noted that to the best of her knowledge he has not had any surgeries or intra-articular joint injections.”

In the letter, Bradley wrote;

“Based on information and videos received from Linda Rice, MAX PLAYER is a big strong colt standing 16-2 hands tall. From the videos, he appears to have long pasterns and is offset (2/5) through his left knee. He has a slightly high neck tie but moves nicely at the walk. These observations are supported by the fact that the colt RNA'd as a yearling for $150,000. While the conformational flaws could have affected his value as a yearling, they are not significant and should not affect the horse's soundness. All in all, he is an above average individual and for the purpose of this appraisal has been given a B+ physical rating.”

As expected, much of Bradley's assessment centers on Max Player's ability to enter the Kentucky Derby, arguably the biggest economic driver for any young horse.

At the time, Max Player had 10 qualifying points for the Derby, by virtue of his Withers score. This ranked him 19th among eligible contenders as of mid-February, but Bradley noted the colt would likely need significantly more points to ensure a spot in the race. The average cutoff point for the previous three Derbies was 33 points.

With so much still to be determined on the Derby trail at that point, Bradley's next point of assessment came in projecting his likelihood of making it to Louisville by seeing how he stacked up against the other 3-year-olds vying for one of the 20 spots. He did this by using comparative speed figures, including Beyer Speed Figures and Ragozin Sheet numbers, the distances of his previous races, pedigree history, and his placement on Derby rankings put out by the Daily Racing Form, BloodHorse, and Thoroughbred Daily News.

Based on the doors that were open for him at the time, and the ability that Max Player had already shown winning two of his first three starts, Bradley said the colt had what it took to be in the Derby mix, and that was worth something.

Bradley further elaborated:

“In 2017 the North American thoroughbred foal crop was 22,156 foals, and MAX PLAYER has the racing credentials to be considered one of the top 20 candidates from that foal crop to potentially participate in the KY Derby. He still needs a win or enough points to make the cut and would be considered to be in the bottom half of the top 20 possible. Nonetheless, a colt that is on the Kentucky Derby trail is valued at a premium price. 19 of the 20 Derby starters will be worth significantly less the day after the race.”

SportBLX is an agency that offers investment opportunities in athletes, sports teams, and racehorses. The company is owned by George Hall, who owns and bred Max Player. The colt will target the G1 Travers Stakes for his next start.

On Tuesday, SportBLX announced a second round of public investment in Max Player, through its Annestes Thoroughbreds program, which focuses on ownership in Kentucky-breds raised at Hall's Versailles, Ky., farm. SportBLX owns a 14-percent stake in Max Player.

To view Max Player's full assessment, click here.

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Max Player, who finished only behind Dr Post and winner Tiz the Law in the Belmont Stakes on June 20, worked for the third time since the first leg of the Triple Crown, going five furlongs in 1:02.21 on Monday morning over the Belmont Park training track.

“He breezed fine and everything went well,” Rice said. “We took it easy with him because the temperatures have been in the high-90s out there. It's been crazy hot, but everything is going smoothly.”

In his first race as a sophomore, Max Player defeated an eight-horse field by 3 ¼ lengths in the 1 1/8-mile Grade 3 Withers on February 1 at Aqueduct Racetrack. In the Belmont Stakes, which was shortened from its famed 1 ½-mile distance to a one-turn 1 1/8 miles to accommodate the revised schedule for 3-year-olds in training, Max Player earned a personal-best 92 Beyer Speed Figure.

With the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby set for September 5 and serving as the middle jewel of the Triple Crown this year, Max Player earned 30 qualifying points for his Belmont Stakes blacktype, adding to the 10 he accumulated with his Withers win. His 40 total qualifying points places him 15th on the current leaderboard, with the Runhappy Travers offering a 100-40-20-10 scale to the top-four finishers.

“He's on schedule,” Rice said. “We're at our home base here. He'll get one more breeze at Belmont and we'll go from there.”

The “Mid-Summer Derby” is contested at 1 ¼ miles, which would make the Travers both Max Player's first start at Saratoga and also the longest race in which he's contested. Rice said there is a possibility he could work at Saratoga before running, but said he has already won in unfamiliar places.

“When we won in the Withers at Aqueduct, he had never been on that track, either,” Rice said. “He can handle new situations well.”

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