ELMONT, N.Y. – Two freaking miles? In America, that’s like two races lined up one after another. No wonder overseas horses have dominated the two-mile Belmont Gold Cup. Since the Gold Cup purse was boosted to $400,000 in 2017 a European shipper has won every year. Europeans swept the first four places in 2017. Only one European came in 2021, but that was plenty. Baron Samedi won easily. Two overseas participants are among eight entered in Friday’s renewal of the Grade 2 turf contest; Loft and Outbox stand a strong chance of forming a cold exacta. Loft will be ridden by Andrasch Starke, a Tuesday replacement for the named rider, Rene Piecheluk, who never has ridden in the United States and was unable to obtain a visa. The 48-year-old Starke, long among Germany’s leading riders, has 21 American mounts and a win at Arlington in the American St. Leger, another staying turf race. Piecheluk and trainer Marcel Weiss, also making his North American debut, teamed to win the 2021 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe with rank outsider Torquator Tasso, by the same sire as Loft, the stout German stallion Adlerflug. Just 4, Loft has the makings of a higher-level stayer. Out of Labrice, by Dubawi, Loft began his career in a 1 1/4-mile contest and since has raced at 1 3/8 miles and farther, improving consistently through his 2021 campaign and hitting a career peak in his lone 4-year-old start, May 22 at Hoppegarten outside Munich. Trying two miles for the first time in the Group 2 Oleander Rennen, Loft traveled strongly from the start, slotting just behind the leader most of his journey, showing enough turn of foot to work into the clear in the final quarter-mile, and winning by a half-length going away. The victory earned him an automatic fees-paid entry into the Gold Cup, and Loft, according to Weiss, has shipped well and thrived at Belmont. “He’s not very big and tall; the course there will be no problem. He’s won a listed race on a left-handed course. The horse doesn’t care. He can also go [1 1/4 miles, 1 1/2 miles] but he likes the long-distance races,” Weiss said through an interpreter. Wet turf or dry – not a problem for Loft, who is 2-2-1 in five races at 1 3/4 miles and longer. Seven-year-old Outbox, based in England with trainer Archie Watson, has far less latitude for improvement than Loft, though he does have a couple races that strongly fit the Gold Cup. The one particularly standing out is the Group 3 John Smiths Silver Cup over 1 3/4 miles last July at York, a relatively flat left-handed course that can be a bellwether for American-racing success. There, Outbox, as is his wont, set the pace and held solidly for second, beaten only by Hukum, who last Friday won the Group 1 Coronation Cup at Epsom Downs. Outbox, top-weighted at 124 pounds, will be the second American ride for Hollie Doyle, who has become a leading European jockey and finished third Friday at Epsom in the Oaks. Doyle was 11th in the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Keeneland, her only American mount. Outbox, who ran two miles early in his career, broke poorly in his most recent start, finishing a distant sixth at Newbury, a subpar performance likely attributable to Outbox’s failure to obtain his preferred spot on the lead. Friday, if he goes for the front under Doyle, his regular jockey, Outbox will find company in Abaan, who went wire to wire winning the Allen Jerkens Stakes in December at Gulfstream, his lone try at two miles. Trainer Todd Pletcher concedes Abaan appears to be an exposed horse, one who won’t be able to quicken with a European like Loft and who needs to bring a clear lead into upper stretch to have a chance to win. :: For the first time ever, our premium past performances are free! Get free Formulator now! Trainer Rodolphe Brisset anticipates Cibolian thriving in his first start longer than 1 1/2 miles and said Cibolian has improved considerably since being gelded over the winter. Cibolian found himself stuck behind a wall of horses May 21 in the Louisville Stakes at Churchill, making an eye-catching surge between horses when finally clear in deep stretch, finishing fourth but quickly galloping out in front. British Royalty beat Cibolian in April at Keeneland in his 4-year-old debut and as a son of English Channel, whose offspring bloom late, he has every right to improve this season. Strong Tide finished eighth over a wet course in the 2021 Gold Cup, Nova Sol got thumped by Abaan in Florida, and Box N Score makes his stakes debut. Looks like another Gold Cup for the Europeans.