Flatten the Curve seeks ‘Golden Ticket’ in G2 Belmont Gold Cup
The vocabulary word of the day could be ‘ausdauer’ [‘stamina’ in German] on Friday when Eckhard Sauren’s Group 2 winner Flatten the Curve seeks to become the third German-trained winner of the Grade 2, $250,000 Belmont Gold Cup in the past eight editions. Previous German runners to prove victorious were Andreas Wohler-trained Red Cardinal [2017] and Marcel Weiss-conditioned Loft [2022]. The race was not contested in 2020.
Contested over two miles on the inner turf for older horses, the staying test is a ‘Golden Ticket’ event offering the winner an automatic berth into the Group 1, Lexus Melbourne Cup worth more than AUD $8 million, continuing the partnership between NYRA and the Victoria Racing Club. “The race that stops a nation” will be held on November 4 at Flemington Racecourse in Victoria, Australia.
Fans will have the opportunity to take their photo with the 2025 Lexus Melbourne Cup trophy from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Jockey Silks Porch. The 18-carat trophy is created from 34 gold pieces, was hand-crafted for over 200 hours and is valued at AUD $600,000. The Melbourne Cup is awarded to the owner of the winning horse, and smaller replicas are given to the trainer and jockey.
Trained by Henk Grewe, Flatten the Curve heads to the Spa having won four races on the bounce, including the two-mile Group 2 Oleander-Rennen, the same race both Loft and Red Cardinal won just prior to taking their Belmont Gold Cups. In order to become the third Bavarian brute to dominate the locals, the 6-year-old gelded son of Zarak must contest tighter turns than his predecessors, as the Saratoga inner-turf contest is arguably less European-friendly than expansive Belmont Park. In 2024, after six straight European victories in the race, heavily favored Siskany could only manage seventh behind The Grey Wizard. Thore Hammer Hansen, aboard for Flatten the Curve’s last three wins, rides again from the rail of the three-turn affair.
“He had his last fast work on Thursday and Thore rode him,” said Grewe, who brought over German stars Donjah and Sisfahan to finish seventh and 10th, respectively, in the 2020 and 2021 editions of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf. “We were both very happy with him. I don’t think he will have any problem with the left-handed smaller course at Saratoga or if the ground is soft from rain. He won for us at Nantes, where it was left-handed and a small track with soft ground. We learned a lot that has helped us from our trips with Sisfahan and Donjah.”
The aforementioned The Grey Wizard’s connections have brought his half-brother, The Ginger Wizard, to the race this year. While less-heralded and experienced than his frost-colored sibling, the Graham Motion trainee is on the upswing for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Frassetto Stables, fresh off a 12-furlong all-weather victory at Turfway Park. Earlier this season, when tested over the two-mile trip, the son of the recently deceased Calyx closed from 19 lengths back to finish fourth, beaten 2 1/4- lengths, in Gulfstream Park’s Listed H. Allen Jerkens Handicap. Umberto Rispoli rides from post 6.
“He really appears to want to run a distance this far,” Motion said. “Of course, two miles is a big ask, but he’s done very well and is coming along. He’s not as mature as his brother was this time last year, but he should be competitive. He was competitive in the two-mile race at Gulfstream and he’s come a long way since then. That’s how I’m thinking about it. Two miles tends to be a bit of an equalizer.”
Stuart Janney, III’s Limited Liability was desperately close to casting out The Grey Wizard last year, finishing third by a pair of heads in a three-horse gray blur-of-a-photo for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey. Since then, the consistent gelding has hit the board in five runs, including a victory in the 1 1/16-mile $500,000 Nashville Gold Cup at Kentucky Downs and a second last out in the Grade 2 Elkhorn in April at Keeneland. Frankie Dettori reunites from post 3.
“He will run as far as you want him to run,” McGaughey said. “He ran good there at Kentucky Downs. All his races of late have been good. His race in Florida, he got unlucky down there and just got beat. Then he got unlucky and just got beat at Keeneland. I am expecting him to run well.”
Whisper Hill Farm’s Grade 2 Kentucky Turf Cup winner Grand Sonata tries beyond 12 furlongs for the first time, seeking to pad his already $2.1 career bankroll. The Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher-trained son of Medaglia d’Oro exits a sixth in the Elkhorn, an effort that followed a head second in the 11-furlong Grade 2 Mac Diarmida at Gulfstream Park. Irad Ortiz.Jr. rides from post 8.
“It’s going to be interesting,” Pletcher said. “He’s been very effective up to a mile and a half and he gives me the impression he’ll stay. Two miles is still a long way, but I think he’ll stay that far.”
Experimentation is the name of the game for a distance that is so rarely utilized stateside. Trainer Tom Morley is confident this test could be worthwhile, as his charge Curbstone, owned by Patricia Moseley, was second in his lone attempt in Far Hills’ $150,000 John Forbes last October to The Grey Wizard. Ben Curtis rides from post 7.
“Two miles on the turf is not something that a lot of horses in America do on a regular basis, but this horse has always shown an abundance of stamina,” Morley said. “The further the better, on either surface. He should be very competitive in this spot. The nominations look like a mixed group of horses, some jumpers, but the one time Curbstone has went two miles on turf, he ran very well.”
The recently graded stakes-placed trio of Imaginary Stables’ Fernando Abreu-trained Padiddle [post 2, Jose Ortiz], Michael Paradis’ Brian Lynch-trained Anglophile [post 5, Javier Castellano] and LSU Stables’ Miguel Clement-conditioned La Mehana [post 4, Manny Franco], the lone mare in the race, also bring substantial claims if able to negotiate the two-mile test effectively.
Anglophile, a Grade 3 winner two years ago, was third in the Elkhorn before a second in the Grade 2 Man o’ War last out, five lengths to the good of third-placed Padiddle, who just broke his maiden in March. La Mehana, Group 1-placed in her native France in 2023 over 1 3/4-miles, has finished in the money in 7-of-10 stateside runs for connections - all in stakes company.
Clement also entered Peachtree Stable’s Tawny Port [post 9, Flavien Prat], who exits a sixth in Gulfstream Park’s Pan American and is winless since Saratoga’s 1 5/8-miles Listed John’s Call in 2023 - coincidentally the last time he raced over the Saratoga turf.
Lord Flintshire, seventh in the H. Allen Jerkens and third in the John Forbes for top dual-purpose trainer Keri Brion, returns to the flat with Hall of Famer John Velazquez aboard from post 10. He exits a maiden-breaking hurdle victory over 2 1/8 miles at Glenwood Park at Middleburg.
Winning Move Stable’s Linda Rice-trained Yo Daddy and the Hall of Famer Bill Mott-trained pair of Claiborne Farm’s Timeout and Pin Oak Stud’s Parchment Party were entered for the main-track only.
The Belmont Gold Cup, slated as Race 10, is part of a lucrative 14-race card that features four Grade 1s for females, including the $500,000 Ogden Phipps presented by Ford [Race 9], offering a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff; the $500,000 DK Horse Acorn [Race 11]; the $500,000 New York presented by Rivers Casino [Race 12]; and the $500,000 Just a Game presented by Resolute Racing [Race 13]. The stacked program also offers the Grade 2, $300,000 Bed o' Roses [Race 6]. First post is 11:40 a.m. Eastern with gates open to the public at 10 a.m.
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