Arklow's endurance to get major test in Belmont Gold Cup

ELMONT, N.Y. – Arklow’s 5-year-old campaign began two months ago at Keeneland with a thud – the sound of Florent Geroux hitting the grass course after Arklow, leaving the gate in a tangle, veered sharply to the outside fence, unseating his jockey. Geroux got up quickly, springing angrily to his feet to walk briskly over and deposit some heated words with the assistant and head starter. Arklow never has seemed like a hot-blooded horse and he took the whole thing in stride, galloping along far behind the field and allowing himself to be snagged by an outrider on the backstretch.

That wasn’t any sort of a useful prep race for the Grade 1 Man o’ War here at Belmont on May 15, but Arklow almost won it anyway, finishing fastest in that 1 3/8-mile race, passing the high-quality Irish filly Magic Wand in the final half-furlong and nearly catching victorious Channel Maker before galloping out well in front of everyone. Brad Cox, who trains Arklow for Donegal Racing, has thought for a good long time now that Arklow was a horse who could run all day, and on Friday he will get his chance, stretching out to two miles in the Grade 2, $400,000 Belmont Gold Cup Invitational.

Arklow, with Geroux aboard again, is one of nine entrants in a race so long it requires three turns around the massive Widener turf course to complete. Six horses are American-based, three from overseas, and while the five-year history of this rare, true long-distance flat race in North America shows three wins for the home team, two for Europeans, it’s important to note that only in the last two years have Europeans been real participants. In 2017 they swept the first four placings and last year ran one-three.

:: Belmont Stakes one-stop shop: Get Clocker Reports, PPs, packages, and more

As for Arklow, he was always going to be a late developer, and he improved throughout his 4-year-old season last year, only faltering in his final start, the Breeders’ Cup Turf, where he finished a respectable fourth after getting stuck on the boggy inside of the Churchill Downs course for a good portion of his trip. His Man o’ War was his best race yet, and Cox expects the two miles to enhance his chances on Friday.

“Florent feels it shouldn’t be an issue and there’s lots of stamina in his pedigree,” said Cox, who has been on fire at this Belmont meet. “We’ve not tried it but I’m pretty confident the distance isn’t an issue.”

Arklow looks best among the Americans, although Red Knight and Canessar can’t be ruled out.

Red Knight, a Bill Mott-trained 5-year-old, also has improved with maturity and enters after the two best races of his career, the first of them a narrow victory in the two-mile Allen Jerkens last Dec. 29 at Gulfsteam. Red Knight made a sharp middle move in the 12-furlong Elkhorn on April 20 at Keeneland in his 2019 debut, made the lead in the homestretch, but was nailed late by the high-level performer Bigger Picture.

“We’ve been figuring out since he crossed the wire there how to get him to this race,” Mott said. “He’s just a real stayer. He had a good race last time, just got touched off, and I’m very happy with how he’s coming into this.”

Canessar was fifth in the Elkhorn but second in the 2018 edition of the Gold Cup and appears to need at least 1 3/4 miles for his best race.

Two of the three Europeans, France-based Amade and England-based Mootasadir, have done all their best work over synthetic surfaces. But trainer Hugo Palmer believes it’s not turf itself that has hampered Mootasadir, but the nature of European turf courses.

“Turf is a big question, but what I think he doesn’t particularly like is an uneven track like we have at home,” Palmer said. “That’s why we’ve come to the States. When he hits the undulations at home his head comes up and he loses his confidence. We’re hoping he can find the rhythm on the Belmont course that he has in his all-weather races.”

Amade has fine all-weather form over two miles but has raced only twice on turf. The Ireland-based Raa Atoll, however, has turf form and is a major threat to win. Owner-trainer Luke Comer, a wealthy developer who leaves the day-to-day hands-on training to an assistant, purchased 5-year-old Raa Atoll out of the John Gosden yard, and in his first start this year, Raa Atoll won a German Group 2 over two miles, beating the capable Thomas Hobson. Neither Comer nor jockey Josef Bojko have raced in North America. In their first start, they could win a Gold Cup.