Pounced gives Gosden Cup repeat

ARCADIA, Calif. - History repeated itself in splendid fashion for trainer John Gosden in Saturday's at Santa Anita as Pounced split horses in upper stretch and ran down a stubborn pacesetter Bridgetown to win the $1 million race by three-quarters of a length.

Bridgetown held second by a head over Interactif, who finished a half-length in front of Awesome Act.

Last year, also at Santa Anita, Gosden won the Juvenile Turf with Donativum.

"I was asked before how did he relate to the horse last year," Gosden said. "I said he's of similar profile."

Gosden said he began plotting for the Juvenile Turf after Pounced won a maiden race at Newbury in August. Gosden gave him some time off and ran him in the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at Longchamp, a race in which he finished second after setting the pace.

Saturday, with Frankie Dettori up, Pounced had an inside stalking trip as Bridgetown, under Robert Landry, set the pace while being stalked by Interactif. The pace was relatively modest, however, with Bridgetown carving out fractions of 23.61 seconds, 48.50, and 1:12.47.

Turning for home, Bridgetown kicked clear, but Dettori had Pounced on the move. In midstretch, he came up inside of Interactif and was able to run down Bridgetown about 30 yards from the wire. Pounced, a Kentucky-bred son of Rahy owned by Serena Rothschild, covered the mile in 1:35.47 and returned $6.80 as the favorite.

"They went no pace did they?" said Gosden, who trained in Southern California for 11 years. "Around here 48, 1:12-and-change I thought 'Whoa, if [Bridgetown] kicks off the bend they won't catch him.' It's not easy to catch them. We had a great draw. We were on the inside; we got the split."

Said Dettori: "I was worried about getting clear, but the gap was big enough for me to go through and my horse was very brave."

Trainer Ken McPeek, who finished second in Friday's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, said Bridgetown had no excuse.

"He's a gutsy little horse, Robert rode him to perfection," McPeek said. "He just got outrun by one good one, so no complaints."

Todd Pletcher, the trainer of Interactif, said he thought post 11 resulted in a wider trip than he would have preferred for his horse.

"I thought from post 11 we had a good trip, we just couldn't quicken enough the last part," Pletcher said.

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