$1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup (Grade 1) Saturday, September 27, 2014 Belmont Park – Elmont, NY NBC Sports Network, 6-8 pm ET live! Haynesfield (2010) is the only horse to wire the JCGC in the last 10 years, beating eventual BC Classic champ Blame in the process. Six straight JCGC winners had prepped at Saratoga, but four consecutive winners lost that previous start at the Spa. The trifecta in 5 straight JCGC editions has been made up exclusively of horses who prepped at Saratoga most recently. JCGC also-rans have won the Breeders' Cup Classic in three of the last four years: Fort Larned (2012), Drosselmeyer (2011), & Blame (2010). Curlin (2007) is the last horse to win both the JCGC and the Classic in the same year. Favorites have lost the last four runnings of the JCGC at odds of 5/2, 5/2, 6/5 and 4/5. The JCGC favorite has missed the trifecta just once in the last 10 years (2005, when the entry of Flower Alley and Bishop Court Hill finished fourth and eighth, respectively, at odds of 3/2). Borrego is the only horse to win the JCGC in the last 10 years with a true closing run, scoring from nearly a dozen lengths off the pace. Only one other winner in that timeframe has been more than 5 lengths off the pace at any point in the race, Flat Out in 2012. Learn more about racing and wagering FREE online every Tuesday, 8:30 pm ET! Track Record – 1:58.33 (In Excess, 1991) JCGC Stakes Record – 1:58.89 (Skip Away,1997) Most jockey wins – Eddie Arcaro (10) Most trainer wins – Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons (7) Highest Win Mutuel – $70.00 (Wagon Limit, 1998) Lowest Win Mutuel – $2.20 (4 times) Largest Winning Margin – 15 lengths (3 times) Smallest Winning Margin – Nose (5 times) The Breeders’ Cup Challenge Players’ Guides are researched, written and designed by Jeremy Plonk along with Brian W. Spencer and the Horse Player NOW team. Photographs by Eclipse Sportswire. Look for exclusive Breeders‟ Cup Challenge Players‟ Guides! Oct. 4-5: Keeneland Fall Stars double issue! Learn more about racing and wagering FREE online every Tuesday, 8:30 pm ET! #1 MICROMANAGE Record: 19 starts – 5 wins, 4 seconds, 4 thirds ($630,881) WHY HE’S IMPORTANT: st He can give Todd Pletcher his 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup win, and a rare major trophy missing from his NYRA war chest. PAST PERFORMANCES: Winner of the G3 Skip Away and listed Birdstone Stakes this year. Runner-up in the G2 Brooklyn and G3 Greenwood Cup this season competing against the east‟s top marathon dirt division foes. Third in last summer‟s G1 Haskell at Monmouth, his last G1 attempt. PEDIGREE: KENTUCKY-BRED Son of Travers winner Medaglia d‟Oro, whose touch with fillies at stud has included the great Rachel Alexandra, Plum Pretty & Marketing Mix. Dam Catnip was a multiple route stakes winner in MN and LA. JOCKEY CLUB GOLD CUP POINTS: nd th Pletcher 2 in 2013 JCGC with Palace Malice & 7 w/ Cross Traffic. rd nd Pletcher/Repole‟s Stay Thirsty 3 in ‟11 JCGC and 2 in ‟12 edition. st 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup mount for rider Luis Saez. THE CONNECTIONS: Jockey Luis Saez: 22-year-old native of Panama City, Panama. ‟09 Eclipse Award finalist for leading apprentice; won ‟13 Travers. Trainer Todd Pletcher: 47-year-old native of Dallas, TX. #1 all-time in trainer earnings in N. America ($276M). 6-time Eclipse Award winner. Owner Repole Stables: Mike Repole of Queens, NY. Founded and sold Vitamin Water. Owned ‟10 BC Juvenile champ Uncle Mo. Learn more about racing and wagering FREE online every Tuesday, 8:30 pm ET! #2 LAST GUNFIGHTER Record: 19 starts – 9 wins, 3 seconds, 2 thirds ($1,205,205) WHY HE’S IMPORTANT: th He used last year‟s JCGC as a springboard to a BC Classic check (5 ). PAST PERFORMANCES: 4-time graded stakes winner of races like Pimlico Special, Iselin. 1-for-4 in „14, taking Mountainview at Penn National; failed to muster on-the-board efforts in G3 Suburban, G 1 Whitney or G1 Woodward. th 5 , beaten 4-3/4 lengths, in last year‟s Breeders‟ Cup Classic. PEDIGREE: KENTUCKY-BRED Son of star 2YO First Samurai, winner of 2005 G1 Champagne at Bel. Dam curiously-named Saratoga Cat, but never raced at Spa in 20 tries. JOCKEY CLUB GOLD CUP POINTS: Can join select list of horses to win Pimlico Special & JCGC in career – last of which was Mineshaft in ‟03-‟04 – Skip Away only other modern. Last JCGC winner to exit a prep finish out of the superfecta was Miner‟s Mark in ‟93, who was 5th in the Woodward prior. Brown‟s only career G1 win on dirt – ‟11 Gazelle w/ Awesome Feather. THE CONNECTIONS: Jockey Joe Bravo: 42-year-old native of Long Branch, NJ. Set pace & wound up 6th in last year‟s JCGC aboard Alpha. Nearing 5,000 wins. Trainer Chad Brown: 35-year-old born in Saratoga, raised in nearby Mechanicville, NY. Ex-Frankel asst. w/ Ghostzapper, Empire Maker. Owner John Gunther: Vancouver, BC native owned graded winners like Eye of the Tiger, Bending Strings. Bred Travers hero Stay Thirsty as well as Hopeful winner First Samurai, sire of Last Gunfighter. Learn more about racing and wagering FREE online every Tuesday, 8:30 pm ET! #3 WICKED STRONG Record: 10 starts – 3 wins, 2 seconds, 1 third ($1,474,610) WHY HE’S IMPORTANT: Expected final start of highly productive 3YO season, a chance to make a statement about his presence in next year‟s Classic chase. PAST PERFORMANCES: 2-time graded stakes winner of the Jim Dandy & Wood Memorial – missed by a nose in Travers to stablemate V.E. Day. 7: 3-2-1 in New York lifetime, 3: 0-0-0 outside of New York. Finished 4th in this year‟s Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes. PEDIGREE: KENTUCKY-BRED Son of 2007 Kentucky Derby runner-up Hard Spun, whose offspring include Saratoga G1 10F winner Questing. Maternal grandson of 1999 Ky Derby & Preakness winner Charismatic. JOCKEY CLUB GOLD CUP POINTS: 3YOs have won JCGC 4 times since ‟00 – last Summer Bird „09. Last 3YO to win Wood & JCGC same season – Easy Goer „89. Jerkens‟ father Allen won JCGC 3 times – in ‟98, ‟75 & „73. THE CONNECTIONS: Jockey Rajiv Maragh: 29-year-old native of Kingston, Jamaica. Won „11 BC Dirt Mile on Caleb‟s Posse. Has won 4 G1 races this year. Trainer Jimmy Jerkens: 55-year-old Bay Shore, NY native and son of legendary trainer Allen. Saddled BC champs Artie Schiller, Corinthian. Owner Centennial Farms: Beverly, MA-based partnership headed by Don Little, Jr. Won Belmont Stakes with Colonial Affair in 1993 Learn more about racing and wagering FREE online every Tuesday, 8:30 pm ET! #4 ZIVO Record: 16 starts – 9 wins, 2 seconds, 4 thirds ($812,300) WHY HE’S IMPORTANT: New York-bred upset the G2 Suburban over this track in July at 13/1. PAST PERFORMANCES: 5-for-6 this year with 4 stakes wins (3 vs. state-bred rivals). Last-to-first winner of the G2 Suburban and Commentator overnight stakes this summer at Belmont Park. th 4 in the G1 Woodward, rallying 5 lengths belatedly. PEDIGREE: NEW YORK-BRED Son of sprinter True Direction, who won the 2002 G3 Fall Highweight. $200K-earning dam was a 2-time allowance winner going 1-1/8 miles. JOCKEY CLUB GOLD CUP POINTS: Recent NY-breds to win JCGC: Funny Cide (‟04) & Haynesfield (‟10). Jockey Lezcano won last year on Ron the Greek; last jockey to win back-to-back JCGCs on different horses – Braulio Baeza „65/‟66. rd Can be 3 Suburban winner in last 5 years to add JCGC (Haynesfield ‟10) and Flat Out (‟11). THE CONNECTIONS: Jockey Jose Lezcano: 29-year-old native of Panama. Piloted BC champs Wise Dan and Royal Delta among others. Trainer Chad Brown: 35-year-old born in Saratoga, raised in nearby Mechanicville, NY. Ex-Frankel asst. w/ Ghostzapper, Empire Maker. Owner Thomas Coleman: 48-year-old hedge fund manager from Westchester County, NY. Has owned horses for about 10 years. Learn more about racing and wagering FREE online every Tuesday, 8:30 pm ET! #5 PRAYER FOR RELIEF Record: 33 starts – 8 wins, 6 seconds, 7 thirds ($1,907,938) WHY HE’S IMPORTANT: th Running in 30 career stakes race with chance to top $2 million mark. PAST PERFORMANCES: Superfecta finishes in the G2 Suburban, G1 Whitney & G1 Woodward in succession, each time at 25/1 odds or greater. Last graded win – 6/29/13 G3 Cornhusker at Prairie Meadows. Won 3 Derbies in succession in 2011 – Iowa, West Virginia, Super. PEDIGREE: KENTUCKY-BRED nd Son of 2001 Saratoga Special winner & Champagne 2 Jump Start. Sire Jump Start best known at stud for millionaire sons Rail Trip & Prayer For Relief, as well as Pants on Fire. JOCKEY CLUB GOLD CUP POINTS: 6-year-olds have won last 2 JCGC editions – Ron the Greek, Flat Out. st th th th Amazingly, John Velazquez seeks 1 JCGC score (7 , 8 , 6 last 3). st 1 JCGC starter for trainer Dale Romans. THE CONNECTIONS: Jockey John Velazquez: 42-year-old native of Carolina, PR; 2011 Hall of Fame inductee, only US jockey to top $300M mount earnings. Trainer Dale Romans: 47-year-old Louisville, Ky native. Earned ‟12 Eclipse Award as top US trainer; won ‟11 Preakness (Shackleford). Owner Zayat Stables: Ahmed Zayat, Egyptian native and NJ-based businessman made mark in beverage industry; raced stars like Bodemeister, Pioneerof The Nile and Paynter.