Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stable and LNJ Foxwoods's Olympiad (Speightstown), a head-scratching fourth in the GI Whitney S., bounced back with a powerful performance in Saturday's 'Win and You're In' GI Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga.
The 8-5 favorite jumped well from his inside draw and sat a perfect, stalking trip in second behind longshot pacesetter Tax (Arch) through fractions of :24.54 and :49.70. Racing in between rivals as last year's GI Cigar Mile H. winner Americanrevolution (Constitution), one of four entered for Todd Pletcher, continued to draw closer heading into the far turn, Olympiad struck the front as Tax was the first to blink approaching the quarter pole.
Olympiad turned for home as the clear cut one to beat, was still going strong three-sixteenths from home while Americanrevolution remained one paced in an all-out second and sailed home two lengths clear over that rival in his first career attempt at the Classic distance. First Captain (Curlin) was up for third.
Olympiad, a $700,000 Keeneland September Yearling graduate, opened 2022 with five straight wins, including the GII New Orleans Classic Mar. 26, GII Alysheba S. May 6 and GII Stephen Foster S. July 2. He finished 9 1/4 lengths behind the ultra-talented Life Is Good (Into Mischief) on a very hot and humid day in upstate New York last time Aug. 6.
“It's gratifying to see him come back,” said winning Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, who captured previous runnings of the Jockey Club Gold Cup with Hall of Famer Cigar (1995), Flat Out (2012), and Ron the Greek (2013). “The [performance] the other day [in the Whitney] was almost too bad to be true considering the form he had been in the previous five races. It was just good to see him bounce back. He's a Grade I winner, he's won six out of seven races this year and he's got a pretty good record for himself.
Mott continued, “I liked the way he looked [in the paddock]. After we put the saddle on him, he was walking around on his toes. He was a little quiet the other day when it was so hot–he kind of had his head down a little bit and looked a little too quiet. I think everyone was moving a little slow. But today, he looked like he had a little extra energy and like he had a little extra bounce in his step just before we put the jocks on. He looked good.”
Pedigree Notes:
Olympiad's win was another Grade I breeding for the coffers of Emory Hamilton and the legacy enjoyed by her family's King Ranch. For more on both Hamilton's family and their connection with Olympiad's family, as well as what was behind his mating, click for a recent story that appeared in TDN.
Olympiad represents six generations of King Ranch/Emory Hamilton breeding. His dam, who is a half to the dam of 2019 GI Woodward S. winner Preservationist (Arch), has a 2-year-old filly by War Front (who sold for $450,000 at Keeneland September to Larkin Armstrong), a yearling colt by American Pharoah, and is reported to be carrying a full-sister to Olympiad for 2023.
WinStar stallion Speightstown has 129 black-type winners from his 15 Northern Hemisphere crops of racing age, which also include 62 graded winners. Remarkably, seven of those stakes winners are out of Medaglia d'Oro mares. Other than Olympiad, the others include MGISW Rock Fall, GISW Competitionofideas, SW & MGISP Dawn the Destroyer, GSW & GISP Souper Stonehenge, and GSW Strike Power. He is now the sire of 25 Grade I winners.
Saturday, Saratoga Racecourse
JOCKEY CLUB GOLD CUP S.-GI, $1,000,000, Saratoga, 9-3, 3yo/up, 1 1/4m, 2:02.11, ft.
1–OLYMPIAD, 126, c, 4, by Speightstown
               1st Dam: Tokyo Time (GSP, $249,177),
                               by Medaglia d'Oro
               2nd Dam: Flying Passage, by A.P. Indy
               3rd Dam: Chic Shirine, by Mr. Prospector
1ST GRADE I WIN. ($700,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Grandview
Equine, Cheyenne Stable, LLC and LNJ Foxwoods; B-Emory A.
Hamilton (KY); T-William I. Mott; J-Junior Alvarado. $535,000.
Lifetime Record: 12-8-1-1, $2,007,560.
Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Americanrevolution, 126, c, 4, Constitution–Polly Freeze, by
Super Saver. ($275,000 Ylg '19 SARAUG). O-CHC Inc. and
WinStar Farm LLC; B-Fred W. Hertrich III & John D. Fielding
(NY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $185,000.
3–First Captain, 126, c, 4, Curlin–America, by A.P. Indy.
'TDN Rising Star' 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($1,500,000 Ylg '19
FTSAUG). O-West Point Thoroughbreds, Siena Farm LLC, Bobby
Flay & Woodford Racing, LLC; B-B. Flay Thoroughbreds (KY);
T-Claude R. McGaughey III. $100,000.
Margins: 2, 1 3/4, 3/4. Odds: 1.70, 2.35, 5.20.
Also Ran: Untreated, Keepmeinmind, Dynamic One, Chess Chief, Tax. Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
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