Rattle N Roll, Proxy tune up for BC Classic in Jockey Club Gold Cup
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – As summer heads to fall, and the Breeders’ Cup comes closer into view, the older male dirt division, beyond one mile, is lacking a clear leader. Yes, White Abarrio was terrific in the Grade 1 Whitney here four weeks ago, but that was his first win at 1 1/8 miles in more than a year.
Rattle N Roll and Proxy have shown signs of being significant players in the division and will get a chance to prove themselves Classic contenders when they square off in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga.
The Gold Cup, run at the Classic distance of 1 1/4 miles, offers a fees-paid berth into the $6 million Classic on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita.
Rattle N Roll has certainly been consistent this year, earning a 100 or 101 Beyer Speed Figure in all five of his starts. He won a trio of Grade 3 stakes – the Ben Ali at Keeneland, the Pimlico Special, and the Blame at Churchill Downs – before running a strong second to West Will Power in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster at Ellis Park.
In the Foster, Rattle N Roll had to go five wide under Brain Hernandez Jr. He was gaining on West Will Power but ran out of ground.
“He had to go around my other horse [Smile Happy] to get there and maybe if he had a little less traffic he would have got there in time,” said Kenny McPeek, Rattle N Roll’s trainer. “It was a good run. I’m excited to get him to mile and a quarter, though the pace of that race is a little tricky. But Brian [Hernandez Jr.] knows him well, he should be able to time it good.”
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Rattle N Roll breaks from post 4.
Proxy has been well traveled this year, racing at Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Oaklawn, Ellis, and Monmouth. He won the Grade 1 Oaklawn Handicap, after getting beat a head in the Santa Anita Handicap, a race that was designed to see how he handled the track where the Breeders’ Cup will be run.
Proxy was checked hard entering the first turn of the Stephen Foster and was pretty much a non-factor thereafter. He won the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup in front-running fashion, when no pace developed.
“I was really happy to get the race in between the Foster, where he ran so bad, and come back in the Monmouth race just to put him back on a winning note going into this race,” said Michael Stidham, trainer of Proxy.
Stidham, like McPeek, is looking forward to running at this distance.
“I’ve always felt the mile and a quarter was only going to be an advantage to him,” Stidham said. “It gives him a little more time, when he’s a little farther back, to give that big closing kick that he’s got when he needs it.”
Rosario rides Proxy from the rail.
Trainer Josie Carroll has shipped in the uncoupled pair of Tyson and Duke of Love from Woodbine.
Tyson, a son of Tapit, won his debut at Gulfstream in March 2022 when in the barn of Todd Pletcher. He was off for more than a year and switched to Carroll. He has won 3 of 4 starts over Woodbine’s synthetic surface this year, including a three-length win in the Grade 2 Seagram Cup on July 23.
Carroll said Tyson trained on dirt during the winter at Payson Park “and breezed very well on the dirt surface there.”
“He trained at Saratoga [Thursday] morning and my exercise rider said he was dragging him across the dirt,” Carroll said. “When it comes to racing it’s an unknown. He’s brilliant on the synthetic, we’ll find out what he can do on dirt.”
Tyson came from off the pace to win the Grade 3 Dominion Day Stakes on July 1. He won the Seagram Cup on the lead.
“The nice thing about this horse is he’s very tractable,” Carroll said. “When he breaks from the gate, the rider will be able to read the race and do whatever we need to do depending how it sets up.”
Manny Franco rides Tyson from post 6.
Duke of Love finished 11 1/2 lengths behind Tyson in the Dominion Day. He came back to win the Grade 3 West Virginia Governor’s Stakes on Aug. 6 at Mountaineer.
“I really was happy with him in the Governor’s, he was dead game in there. He had every reason to give it up and he just fought for it and you just have to love that in a horse,” Carroll said.
Luis Contreras rides Duke of Love from post 7.
Bright Future, a son of Curlin trained by Pletcher, was a non-factor in the Grade 2 Brooklyn at 1 1/2 miles but came back to win a 1 1/8-mile allowance race here by 4 3/4 lengths on July 21. Javier Castellano rides from post 8.
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p>Clapton won the Grade 3 Ghostzapper in April at Gulfstream. He finished third behind Rattle N Roll in the Pimlico Special and was second behind Charge It in the Grade 2 Suburban at Belmont. He has since been sold to RRR Racing and will make his first start for trainer Chad Summers in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.
Unbridled Bomber, third in the Suburban, and Warrior Johny, third in the Hanshin Stakes at Ellis, complete the field.
The Jockey Club Gold Cup goes as race 11 on a 12-race card that begins at 12:40 p.m. and includes the Grade 2 Flower Bowl, Grade 2 Prioress, and listed Harvey Pack Stakes.
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