SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – In a span of eight weeks, Mindframe became a multiple Grade 1 winner sprinting and routing, doing so while beating some of the best horses in training. But in this rarest of years, when the older male dirt division has talent and depth, there are more challenges to meet. Sunday’s Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga exemplifies that. Mindframe will meet Sierra Leone, whom he defeated in the Stephen Foster eight weeks ago, three other millionaires, and a pair of in-form older males in a loaded renewal of the 1 1/4-mile Gold Cup, which offers a fees-paid berth to the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 1 at Del Mar. The Jockey Club Gold Cup will lose one horse as Banishing, who won the Charles Town Classic on Aug. 22, will scratch, according to trainer and part-owner David Jacobson, after drawing post 9. Banishing, who left Saratoga on Friday afternoon, will be aimed at the Lukas Classic on Sept. 28 at Churchill Downs, Jacobson said. As a 3-year-old, Mindframe was talented enough to run second in the Belmont Stakes and Haskell Stakes in his third and fourth career starts. Only one horse, Dornoch, has beaten Mindframe. Mindframe has gone 3 for 3 this year, with his Grade 1 victories coming against impressive fields in the Churchill Downs Stakes at seven furlongs and the Stephen Foster at 1 1/8 miles. In the Churchill Downs, run over a sloppy track, Mindframe beat Nysos, Banishing, and Book’em Danno. That trio has since come back to win seven stakes – six graded – and Nysos was the morning-line favorite in Saturday’s Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar. :: Bet Smarter at Saratoga. Unlock DRF data and expert analysis all meet long. Save with a Saratoga Handicapping Package from DRF.  In the Stephen Foster, Mindframe beat Sierra Leone, last year’s 3-year-old champion male; Mystik Dan, the 2024 Kentucky Derby winner; and Hit Show, this year’s Dubai World Cup winner. “As they say, to be the best you got to beat the best,” said Todd Pletcher, trainer of Mindframe. “Right now, I feel like he’s the divisional leader, but as we know in these situations you got to keep winning all the time to hold on to that.” Mindframe, a Maryland-bred son of Constitution, has a combination of tactical speed and stamina that makes him dangerous. He lost the Belmont Stakes last year because he shied when hit by jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.’s crop. This year, he appears more professional. “I think he’s polishing off his races a little bit better,” Pletcher said. Mindframe hasn’t won at 1 1/4 miles yet, but the way he galloped out after the Stephen Foster, it certainly didn’t look as though more distance would be problematic. “He’s never given me any concerns about distance limitations,” said Pletcher, who trains Mindframe for Mike Repole and the St. Elias Stable of Vinnie and Teresa Viola. Chad Brown, trainer of Sierra Leone, says if Pletcher put Mindframe in this race he must believe the horse can handle the distance. “I respect Todd a lot, he’s not going to run a horse in the race unless he thinks he can do it,” Brown said. Sierra Leone proved himself at 1 1/4 miles last year by winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic and finishing second by a nose in the Kentucky Derby. This year, Sierra Leone ran like a horse in need of a race when third in the New Orleans Classic to begin his 4-year-old campaign. In the Stephen Foster, he was off slowly but still came with his patented late run, which fell a length short. Four weeks ago, in the Grade 1 Whitney, Sierra Leone, caked in dirt, came with a powerful, albeit wide, stretch rally that enabled him to win by one length, outfinishing 2024 Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Highland Falls. :: Get exclusive Saratoga Clocker Reports from Mike Welsch and the Clocker Team. Available every race day.  “He took a lot of dirt, he was behind horses, he didn’t have an easy go of it, and he still was able to get through horses and work a trip out – inside, outside – and really just ran a very professional race from start to finish,” Brown said. Brown has elected to run the horse back in four weeks in part because he likes the spacing between this race and the Breeders’ Cup on Nov. 1 at Del Mar. Brown also has liked the two workouts his horse has had in the interim. “He’s training excellent,” Brown said. In the Whitney, Sierra Leone got an assist from a pacemaker, Contrary Thinking, who will join him again in the Gold Cup, breaking from post 6 under Dylan Davis. Sierra Leone is not the only horse coming out of the Whitney to run back in the Jockey Club. Second-through-fourth-place finishers Highland Falls, Disarm, and White Abarrio also are in this field. White Abarrio was an impressive winner of the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup to begin his year. Recently, he was fourth in the Metropolitan Handicap and fourth again in the Whitney. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said White Abarrio was compromised by a wide trip in the Whitney. Joseph has exuded confidence in the last two weeks regarding White Abarrio. “The energy he’s showing, the movement he’s showing, and his color is coming back, I felt like there were a couple of spots he didn’t have the shine to him,” Joseph said. “I feel like everything’s aligned now. We feel like if we get a trip, he’s going to be tough. I feel like he’s going to run his best and hopefully his best is good enough.” Highland Falls, a 5-year-old son of Curlin, won the Jockey Club Gold Cup by four lengths last year. His trainer, Brad Cox, believes the horse is better this year. “I thought training him up to the allowance at Aqueduct he was a better horse this year than last, and I think his two numbers have shown that he’s a better horse this year,” Cox said. “Last time, he dug in and beat a lot of really good horses and he fought a champion from last year in Sierra Leone; looking forward to the rematch.” :: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!  Disarm has only two allowance wins on his résumé the last two years, but his runner-up performance in the 2024 Travers and third in the Whitney are two of his better efforts in his 17-race career. Phileas Fogg and Antiquarian were separated by a head when finishing one-two in the Grade 2 Suburban here July 4. Phileas Fogg won the Suburban on the front end under Kendrick Carmouche, but trainer Gustavo Rodriguez said he’d be content to have Phileas Fogg sit off of Contrary Thinking. “Kendrick said I wish we could get the outside position and we got it,” Rodriguez said. “That way I break and see everybody what they’re going to do. We’re not going to go crazy on the lead.” Antiquarian has improved in each of his three starts this year, an allowance win at Gulfstream Park in April, a runner-up finish to Mystik Dan in the Blame at Churchill, and his narrow loss in the Suburban. Without a doubt, the Jockey Club is must-see TV. In order to take advantage of a one-hour window on national Fox, the Jockey Club Gold Cup will go as race 5 (1:45 p.m. Eastern) on a 14-race card that begins at 11:20 a.m. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.