Phileas Fogg looks to play spoiler in G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup

• Phileas Fogg looks to play spoiler in G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup
• Time to Dream looks to Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” events after Listed P. G. Johnson presented by Snap-On
• Deep-closing debut winner Aye Eye to run in G1 Spendthrift Farm Hopeful
• Flyin Hawaiian a possible over-lei in G1 Spendthrift Farm Hopeful
• Sandman takes to turf in G3 Nashville Derby at Kentucky Downs

Jupiter Stable’s Phileas Fogg is already a graded stakes-winner at 10 furlongs over the Saratoga Race Course main track and will look to repeat that feat in Sunday’s Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup as he looks for his first top-level conquest.

The 5-year-old son of Astern has been the gift that keeps on giving for trainer Gustavo Rodriguez, who claimed him for $62,500 out of a turf optional claimer here last July. Since then, the consistent gelding has finished first or second in each of his seven outings, led by a last-out victory by a head over the reopposing Antiquarian in the Grade 2 Suburban presented by Subourbon on July 4 here.

The pacesetting effort was awarded a career-best 104 Beyer Speed Figure and came in addition to previous Listed stakes success by open lengths in the nine-furlong Queens County in December and 10-furlong Excelsior in April, both at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Rodriguez, who earned his first graded victory in the Suburban, said the frontrunning Phileas Fogg has trained forwardly into his first Grade 1 test.

“He’s good, and every time he breezes – beautiful,” Rodriguez said. “The race is extremely tough. We’re just happy to be in this spot. At the end of the race, it is what it is. We’re running against the best. A lot of people wish they can be in a race like this. We’re happy.”

The Jockey Club Gold Cup will feature a much-anticipated showdown between last-out Grade 1 Whitney-winner and reigning Champion 3-Year-Old Colt Sierra Leone and dual Grade 1-winner Mindframe, as well as the next three finishers from the Whitney: defending Jockey Club Gold Cup-winner Highland Falls, multiple Grade 1-placed Disarm, and 2023 Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic-winner White Abarrio.

While five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown has entered Contrary Thinking to ensure a swift pace for the deep-closing Sierra Leone, Rodriguez said he is focused solely on his own contender as he emerges from post 7-of-9 under regular rider Kendrick Carmouche [15-1ML].

“We’re not worried about the rabbit for Chad Brown,” Rodriguez said. “We’ve got a beautiful post position on the outside. Before we entered, Kendrick said, ‘let’s hope we can draw on the outside so we can look at everybody.’ When you’re inside, you have to take off.”

Bred in Kentucky by Godolphin, Phileas Fogg has banked $736,773 through a lifetime record of 18-9-4-0. He is out of the unraced More Than Ready mare Merino – a half-sister to Group 1-winner Capezzano – while his second dam Cableknit is a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire and influential sire Speightstown.

Highlighted by the 107th running of the Jockey Club Gold Cup, a special edition of Saratoga Live presented by Caesars Sportsbook will air on FOX from 1-2 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, August 31.

The Jockey Club Gold Cup [Race 5] awards a “Win and You’re In” berth into the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic and is one of two stakes on Sunday’s card, which also features the restricted $135,000 Disco Partner in Race 10. First post on the 14-race card is 11:20 a.m. Eastern.

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Time to Dream looks to Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” events after Listed P. G. Johnson presented by Snap-On

The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf is quickly becoming more of a target than a dream for Repole Stable’s Time to Dream, who closed to win her stakes debut ultra-impressively in Wednesday’s Listed $150,000 P. G. Johnson presented by Snap-On, a 1 1/16-mile inner turf test for juvenile fillies, at Saratoga Race Course.

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher indicated Time to Dream could target the Grade 2 Miss Grillo on October 4 at Belmont at the Big A or the Grade 2 Jessamine on October 3 at Keeneland - both offering a "Win and You're In" berth to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar.

“It will most likely be one of those two choices,” said Pletcher.

The Not This Time bay closed to win her local one-mile debut by 2 1/4 lengths on July 25. With Irad Ortiz, Jr., aboard for the first time in the afternoon from the inside post of the Listed P.G. Johnson, Time to Dream extended her winning margin to five lengths with an eye-catching turn of foot in a final time of 1:43.68.

“I thought that was a very good effort,” Pletcher said. “She settled nicely. She showed a good kick, like she did in her debut. I’m proud of her and that was a very good performance.”

Pletcher added that Time to Dream came out well from the effort that earned a career-best 75 Beyer Speed Figure.

“She came out very good, doing excellent,” Pletcher said on Thursday. 

A $750,000 purchase at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale, Time to Dream is out of the unraced Street Sense mare Wild Silk, who is a half-sister to Grade 1-winner Joking and also produced multiple graded stakes-winner Red Carpet Ready.

In Thursday’s Grade 3, $175,000 With Anticipation, a 1 1/16-mile inner turf route for juveniles, Final Score made it a sweep of this week's 2-year-old turf stakes routes at the Spa for Pletcher and Repole, and for sire Not This Time, with a 4 1/2-length pacesetting win in in a final time of 1:41.75.

Pletcher said post-race that it could be a similar plan for Final Score, with a possible next start in the Grade 2 Pilgrim on October 3 at Belmont at the Big A or the Grade 2 Bourbon on October 5 at Keeneland - both offering a "Win and You're In" berth to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.

"I'll have to think about that a little bit and see. There's obvious possibilities at either Aqueduct or Keeneland. We'll play it by ear,” said Pletcher.

Final Score improved to 2-for-2 on turf, following a pacesetting graduation over course and distance on August 10, with Heeere’s Johnny landing second in both races. Final Score was a $600,000 purchase at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale and is out of the winning Bernardini mare Precious Dixie, a half-sister to Grade 1-placed Lady Kate, dual graded stakes-placed Prince of Arabia and Grade 3-placed Princess Theorem.

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Deep-closing debut winner Aye Eye to run in G1 Spendthrift Farm Hopeful

Robert Cotran’s Aye Eye is cross-entered in Monmouth Park’s Sapling on Saturday, but trainer Joe Orseno confirmed Friday that the deep-closing debut winner will run in Closing Day Monday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Spendthrift Farm Hopeful, a seven-furlong sprint for juveniles, at Saratoga Race Course.

The Essential Quality gray was 19 lengths back in last-of-8 after hitting the gate from the inside post in his six-furlong debut on August 8 here and still trailed rounding the turn, but returning Hall of Famer Javier Castellano navigated him outside-to-inside with arguably the kick of the meet en route to a 1 1/2-length victory.

The final time of 1:12.64 earned a 62 Beyer Speed Figure, and the visually-impressive nature prompted a try at the Hopeful.

“He’s 100 percent running in the Hopeful,” said Orseno. “I was just in awe. He ran fantastic. He broke and hit the side of the gate, was that far back, and I was thinking, ‘Why did I come here?’ Down the backside, I saw him getting himself together but thought he still wouldn’t make it interesting. I told the owner, ‘he’s picking some off, fourth or fifth is respectable.’

“Next thing I know was a closing kick like I don’t think I’ve ever seen… and I’ve trained a long time,” Orseno continued.

Based on Aye Eye’s finish, Orseno isn’t concerned about stretching out to seven furlongs.

“Seven furlongs was the natural progression for this horse. I was looking for this distance, and it happens to be a Grade 1,” Orseno said. “I know his numbers don’t say he belongs, but you can’t take away the way he did it. That’s what I’m looking at more than his numbers.”

Aye Eye, a $45,000 purchase at the 2025 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, is out of the dual stakes-winning Divine Park mare Divine Queen.

“When I look at Essential Quality, this horse has the same kind of body type, that’s about the only comparison I can make,” Orseno said. “Physically, he’s not this big, strapping 16 and change hands horse that would ‘wow’ you, but he’s athletic looking and put together.”

Of other upcoming stakes action at the Spa, Orseno plans to run dual Grade 2-placed Eamonn in Sunday’s inaugural $135,000 Disco Partner, a 5 1/2-furlong Mellon turf sprint for 3-year-olds and up who have not won a graded sweepstakes in 2024-25. The 7-year-old Pioneerof the Nile gelding is cross-entered as an also-eligible in the Grade 2 Mint Kentucky Turf Sprint on Saturday at Kentucky Downs.

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Flyin Hawaiian a possible over-lei in G1 Spendthrift Farm Hopeful

Trainer Butch Reid, Jr. believes Flyin Hawaiian can outperform his 20-1 morning line assessment in Closing Day Monday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Spendthrift Farm Hopeful, a seven-furlong sprint for 2-year-olds, at Saratoga Race Course.

The Pennsylvania-bred bay comes from familiar stock for Reid, Jr. being a son of Maximus Mischief, who captured the 2018 Grade 2 Remsen for the conditioner at Aqueduct Racetrack. Flyin Hawaiian, out of the winning Quiet American mare Quiet Virtue, is a full-brother to another Reid, Jr. trainee in multiple stakes-winner Maximus Meridius [18-6-5-1, $534,330].

Flyin Hawaiian, owned by Reid, Jr. in partnership with LC Racing and James Bonner, faltered as the favorite when fourth on debut in a June 22 maiden sprint contested over muddy going at Monmouth Park. However, he avenged that defeat with an 8 1/2-length romp under Paco Lopez in a 4 1/2-furlong maiden sprint on July 21 at his Parx homebase, an effort that was validated when runner-up Freely Held returned to win by 6 1/2-lengths next out.

“He didn't ship too well to the Monmouth race, so we made sure last time with him, and he ran at home and didn't have to ship,” Reid, Jr. said. “It was not an easy field last time. He was very professional. Paco said, 'you don't want to rush this horse too much, he wants to do it on his own.' But he broke fine and once he settled into stride it was pretty much over from there.”

Reid, Jr. shipped Flyin Hawaiian to Saratoga about one month ago to allow the colt to settle in and become familiar with new surroundings. He has worked three times over the Spa main track, including a solo half-mile in 48 flat on August 24.

“He was much better running out of his own stall. He's been up there for a month at Saratoga, so he's very familiar with the surroundings. He's a little bit of a handful, so we've schooled him in the paddock and hopefully all the pre-race stuff goes well,” Reid, Jr. said. “He's an aggressive worker. That last work we let him go on his own and he did that well in hand. It proved to me he handles the track well up there.

“He's an average-sized horse, very athletic and light on his feet. He looks like he has good range to him,” Reid, Jr. added. “He's got a good, long stride to him and I think the added distance will really help him. His breezes have all been galloping out good and strong and going all the way around the backside before you can get him pulled up."

Reid, Jr. said he is hopeful that Flyin Hawaiian will keep to task on Monday, noting that Maximus Meridius required the ultimate equipment change to get the best out of him.

“This horse is a little more aggressive than 'Max' was but unfortunately 'Max' didn't move to a new level until we gelded him. Hopefully he'll perform well enough on Monday to talk us out of that,” Reid, Jr. said.

Flyin Hawaiian will exit post 2 in rein to Luis Saez.

Reid, Jr. will look to pick up a win on Sunday here with another well-related charge in Cash is King and LC Racing’s Handsome Linc [post 7, Jose Gomez, 10-1ML], who stretches out and switches to turf for a 1 1/16-mile maiden event for 2-year-olds in Race 9.

The Kentucky-bred Candy Ride colt is out of the graded stakes-placed Astern mare Mainstay, who is a half-sister to 2020 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Vequist, who captured that year’s Grade 1 Spinaway here for Reid, Jr. en route to a victory in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland.

Handsome Linc made his first three starts in main track maiden sprints, missing by a nose on debut traveling five furlongs on June 19 at Delaware and followed one-month later with a 3 1/4-length fourth in a local six-furlong tilt. Last out, Handsome Linc failed to fire when a distant seventh going six furlongs on August 9 here.

“It was a little bit of a clunker,” Reid, Jr. said. “I thought his first race up at Saratoga was fine and he battled it to the end against some nice-looking colts and then he came back and ran flat. I'm not sure why, maybe we ran him back too quickly, but he came out of it great. He's sound and been training very forwardly, so we decided to give him one more shot before the end of the meet.

“We've had that [turf] in mind with this horse being by Candy Ride,” Reid, Jr. added. “He's another horse with a nice stride on him and a nice foot on him for the turf. It's a little bit of an experiment, but not without some factors in our favor. I think he'll do fine as well.”

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Sandman takes to turf in G3 Nashville Derby at Kentucky Downs

D.J. Stable, St. Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds and CJ Stables' Sandman, a Grade 1-winner on dirt, makes his turf debut in Saturday's Grade 3, $3.5 million [$1.5M KTDF] Nashville Derby, a 1 5/16-mile route for sophomores, at Kentucky Downs.

Trained by dual Hall of Famer Mark Casse, the Tapit grey was a popular figure on the Triple Crown trail this year, taking the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby in March at Oaklawn Park ahead of a seventh-place finish in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby. He closed from last-of-9 to finish a 2 3/4-length third in the Grade 1 Preakness won by Journalism, who is entered in Saturday's Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar.

Sandman [post 8, Jose Ortiz, blinkers OFF] was last seen finishing last-of-5 on July 26 here in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy presented by Mohegan Sun. He has since worked a half-mile twice over the Oklahoma training turf, including in 49.70 on August 10 and in 48.70 on August 22.

"I thought he worked excellent over it. Jose [Ortiz] was on him the first time and he's a man of few words, but he was very excited about the way he went," Casse said. "I thought he came back and looked a little better the second time. He's definitely showed me enough that we have to give it a try.

"We're coming into the race well," Casse continued. "The turf is an unknown and I think the turf is going to be extremely hard because they haven't had a lot of rain, so we'll see how all those horses handle that."

Sandman has since shipped to Kentucky where he is being cared for at Churchill Downs by longtime Casse assistant Allen Hardy.

"Allen knows him well. He had him in the spring for the Derby and his comment to me was, 'wow, he's grown up and I've never seen him moving better.’"

Sandman, bred in Kentucky by Lothenbach Stables, has banked in excess of $1.4 million via an 11-3-1-3 record. He was purchased for $1.2 million at the OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training.

An overflow Nashville Derby field features four other Triple Crown alumni in the Chad Brown-trained Hill Road [post 1, Tyler Gaffalione], who was fifth in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets and returns to turf for the first time since September; Burnham Square [post 5, Brian Hernandez, Jr.], who was sixth in the Kentucky Derby and tries turf for the first time for trainer Ian Wilkes; the Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen-trained Tiztastic [post 7, Joel Rosario], a two-time turf winner that was 10th in the Derby; and the Brad Cox-trained Final Gambit [post 11, Florent Geroux], a closing fourth in the Derby looking for his first turf score in his fourth attempt.

The Nashville Derby will go as Race 10 on Saturday's 12-race card.