U. S. S. Valor, Gaudreau face off again in Champagne
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ELMONT, N.Y. – On a day when there are six graded stakes at Belmont Park, just about all with implications for the Breeders’ Cup four weeks hence, the horse fans are most anxious to see run is the 2-year-old U. S. S. Valor in the Grade 1 Champagne.
Coming off a dazzling 13 1/4-length maiden victory Sept. 5 at Saratoga, a performance that earned a 105 Beyer Speed Figure, U. S. S. Valor will attempt to run similar or, if possible, better when he heads a field of six entered in the one-mile Champagne. The winner of this race earns a fees-paid berth into the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Oct. 30 at Keeneland.
Adding to the intrigue is that U. S. S. Valor will face Gaudreau, the horse who beat him in an Aug. 8 maiden race, one that has produced next-out winners Coach Pope and Hemingway, the latter on turf. Coach Pope runs in Saturday’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland.
In that Aug. 8 race, U. S. S. Valor broke from the rail and was pushed inward by Coach Pope out of the gate. U. S. S. Valor was sixth early on and had to steady again before the five-sixteenths pole before tipping outside in the stretch and rallying to finish three-quarters of a length behind Gaudreau, a neck behind Coach Pope.
In his second start, U. S. S. Valor pressed the pace of longshot Gold On Black for a quarter-mile before taking control entering the far turn and drawing clear with two cracks of jockey Manny Franco’s right-handed whip.
U. S. S. Valor is a son of War of Will out of the mare Spangled Banner. He is owned and bred by Barry Irwin’s Team Valor International. He is trained by Shug McGaughey, who won the Champagne three times in four years in the mid-to-late 1980s, the last one being Adjudicating in 1989.
“His first race I thought he learned a lot,” McGaughey said of U. S. S. Valor. “Second race, he sat right off a horse; I liked that. We’re going a little farther this time. I think if he breaks good, he’ll be laying close.”
U. S. S. Valor breaks from post 5 in this six-horse field.
Gaudreau, a son of Nyquist, was a pace-pressing winner of that Aug. 8 debut, holding off runs by Coach Pope and U. S. S. Valor to win by a half-length.
“They both tried him and he reached down and showed a lot of heart,” trainer Chad Brown said. “We knew he was very talented. We tested him out in the morning. No trainer, I don’t care who you are, knows that they have that amount of heart and determination until you run them. He’s a truly promising horse. He fended them both off and won well and galloped out well.”
Brown said Gaudreau had a hard race and needed a little bit more time to recover. He said he was never planning to run him back in the Grade 1 Hopeful on Sept. 6 anyway, so Brown was able to train him the way he wanted leading up to this race.
“I’ve been impressed with his training,” Brown said. “The last couple of works have been outstanding.”
Brown has won the Champagne five times, most recently in 2024 with Chancer McPatrick.
Club Reign, a son of Core Beliefs trained by Whit Beckman, was a pace-pressing six-length debut winner on the Travers Day card at Saratoga.
“I was seriously impressed,” Beckman said. “He’s a blocky horse, he looks like a two-turn type how he trains. I didn’t know he’d break so well and have that much comfortable speed. He had him on a long rein, very relaxed, and when Edgard [Zayas] showed him the whip, I didn’t know he was going to move away so easily.”
Mission Integrity, who finished 17 1/2 lengths behind Club Reign, came back to win his next start on Wednesday at Belmont by one length, improving his Beyer Speed Figure 46 points to an 81.
Rounding out the Champagne field are Raku, a debut winner going five furlongs at Monmouth who then got beat a nose in the Sapling Stakes; Earth Song, a son of Justify trained by Jorge Delgado who won his debut by 11 1/4 lengths going six furlongs at Monmouth; and longshot Johnny Hockey.
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