Jockey Club Gold Cup
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| Grade I race | |
|---|---|
| Jockey Club Gold Cup | |
 |
|
| Location | Belmont Park Elmont, New York, United States |
| Inaugurated | 1919 |
| Race type | Thoroughbred - Flat racing |
| Website | Belmont Park |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 1¼ miles (10 furlongs) |
| Track | Dirt, Left-handed |
| Qualification | Three-years-old and up |
| Weight | Weight-For-Age |
| Purse | $1 million |
The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a prestigious thoroughbred flat race open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It is typically the main event of the fall meeting at Belmont Park, just as the Belmont Stakes is of the spring meeting and the Travers Stakes is of the summer meeting at Saratoga.
It has often been the event in which horses who have done well in a year's United States Triple Crown races first face older opponents on a weight-for-age basis.
Before it was known as the Jockey Club Gold Cup it began as the Jockey Club Stakes. This was its name when Man o' War won it against the only horse willing to race him. Damask, owned by Harry Payne Whitney, was entered as a sporting gesture and to keep "Red" from having to run alone in a "walkover." Damask finished 15 lengths behind with Red held under strong restraint in order not to humiliate his rival. Even so, Red broke the American record for a mile and a half.
Despite its $750,000 purse and Grade 1 status, the stature of the race has suffered somewhat in recent years thanks to the emergence of the Breeders' Cup held not long afterward, as well as the race's having been shortened to the more common distance of 1¼ miles in 1990, reducing its distinctiveness.
The race was once run (1976 through 1989) at 1½ miles, but from 1921 through 1975 it was two miles long, second in distance only to the far less prestigious, 2¼-mile Display Handicap (among American stakes races during this period). From 1958 through 1974, except for 1962 and 1968, the race was held at Aqueduct Racetrack instead of Belmont.
The past winners of the Gold Cup is a veritable who's who of award winning Hall of Fame horses. Seven horses have won the race twice (including Triple Tiara winner, Shuvee). Only one horse in history has won the Cup five times, and that was the great gelding Kelso.
Perhaps the most memorable renewal was that of 1978, when Exceller defeated the previous year's Triple Crown winner, Seattle Slew, by a nose, with the 1978 Triple Crown winner, Affirmed, finishing fifth.
[edit] Records
Time record: (at current 1¼ miles)
- 1:58.89 - Skip Away (1997)
Most wins:
- 5 - Kelso (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964)
Most wins by an owner:
- 5 - Glen Riddle Farm (1919, 1920, 1925, 1926, 1938)
- 5 - Bohemia Stable (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964)
Most wins by a jockey:
- 10 - Eddie Arcaro (1935, 1946, 1948, 1949, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1959, 1960, 191)
Most wins by a trainer:
- 7 - Jim Fitzsimmons (1929, 1930, 1933, 1934, 1944, 1955, 1956)
[edit] Winners of the Jockey Club Gold Cup
| Year |
Winner |
Age |
Jockey |
Trainer |
Owner |
Time |
| 2007 | Curlin | 3 | Robby Albarado | Steve Asmussen | Padua Stables et al | 2:01.20 |
| 2006 | Bernardini | 3 | Javier Castellano | Thomas Albertrani | Darley Stable | 2:01.02 |
| 2005 | Borrego | 4 | Garrett Gomez | C. Beau Greely | Kelly, Scott, Ralls, Foster | 2:02.86 |
| 2004 | Funny Cide | 4 | Jose Santos | Barclay Tagg | Sackatoga Stable | 2:02.44 |
| 2003 | Mineshaft | 4 | Robby Albarado | Neil J. Howard | Farish, Elkins, Webber | 2:00.25 |
| 2002 | Evening Attire | 4 | Shaun Bridgmohan | Patrick J. Kelly | Grant, Grant, Kelly | 1:59.58 |
| 2001 | Aptitude | 4 | Jerry Bailey | Robert J. Frankel | Juddmonte Farm | 2:01.49 |
| 2000 | Albert the Great | 3 | Jorge Chavez | Nick Zito | Tracy Farmer | 1:59.24 |
| 1999 | River Keen | 7 | Chris Antley | Bob Baffert | Hugo Reynolds | 2:01.40 |
| 1998 | Wagon Limit | 4 | Robbie Davis | H. Allen Jerkens | Joseph V. Shields, Jr. | 2:00.62 |
| 1997 | Skip Away | 4 | Jerry Bailey | Hubert Hine | Carolyn Hine | 1:58.89 |
| 1996 | Skip Away | 3 | Shane Sellers | Hubert Hine | Carolyn Hine | 2:00.70 |
| 1995 | Cigar | 5 | Jerry Bailey | William I. Mott | Allen Paulson | 2:01.29 |
| 1994 | Colonial Affair | 4 | Jose Santos | Flint S. Schulhofer | Centennial Farms | 2:02.19 |
| 1993 | Miner's Mark | 3 | Chris McCarron | C. R. McGaughey III | Ogden Phipps | 2:02.79 |
| 1992 | Pleasant Tap | 5 | Gary Stevens | Christopher Speckert | Buckland Farm | 1:58.95 |
| 1991 | Festin | 5 | Ed Delahoussaye | Ron McAnally | Kinerk Burton | 2:00.69 |
| 1990 | Flying Continental | 4 | Corey Black | Jay M. Robbins | Jack Kent Cooke | 2:00.60 |
| 1989 | Easy Goer | 3 | Pat Day | C. R. McGaughey III | Ogden Phipps | 2:29.20 |
| 1988 | Waquoit | 5 | Jose Santos | Guido Federico | Joseph Federico | 2:27.60 |
| 1987 | Creme Fraiche | 5 | Laffit Pincay, Jr. | Woody Stephens | Brushwood Stable | 2:30.80 |
| 1986 | Creme Fraiche | 4 | Randy Romero | Woody Stephens | Brushwood Stable | 2:28.00 |
| 1985 | Vanlandingham | 4 | Pat Day | C. R. McGaughey III | Loblolly Stable | 2:27.00 |
| 1984 | Slew o'Gold | 4 | Angel Cordero, Jr. | John Hertler | Equusequitey Stable | 2:28.80 |
| 1983 | Slew o'Gold | 3 | Angel Cordero, Jr. | Sid Watters, Jr. | Equusequitey Stable | 2:26.20 |
| 1982 | Lemhi Gold | 4 | Chris McCarron | Laz Barrera | Aaron U. Jones | 2:31.20 |
| 1981 | John Henry | 6 | Bill Shoemaker | Lefty Nickerson | Dotsam Stable | 2:28.40 |
| 1980 | Temperence Hill | 3 | Eddie Maple | Joseph B. Cantey | Loblolly Stable | 2:30.20 |
| 1979 | Affirmed | 4 | Laffit Pincay, Jr. | Laz Barrera | Harbor View Farm | 2:27.40 |
| 1978 | Exceller | 5 | Bill Shoemaker | Charles Whittingham | Nelson Bunker Hunt | 2:27.20 |
| 1977 | On The Sly | 4 | Gregg McCarron | Milton W. Gross | Balmak Stable | 2:28.20 |
| 1976 | Great Contractor | 3 | Pat Day | Roger Laurin | Howard P. Wilson | 2:28.80 |
| 1975 | Group Plan | 5 | Jorge Velasquez | H. Allen Jerkens | Hobeau Farm | 3:23.20 |
| 1974 | Forego | 4 | Heliodoro Gustines | Sherrill W. Ward | Lazy F Ranch | 3:21.20 |
| 1973 | Prove Out | 4 | Jorge Velasquez | H. Allen Jerkens | Hobeau Farm | 3:20.00 |
| 1972 | Autobiography | 4 | Angel Cordero, Jr. | Pancho Martin | Sigmund Sommer | 3:21.40 |
| 1971 | Shuvee | 5 | Jorge Velasquez | Willard C. Freeman | Anne Minor Stone | 3:20.40 |
| 1970 | Shuvee | 4 | Ron Turcotte | Willard C. Freeman | Anne Minor Stone | 3:21.60 |
| 1969 | Arts and Letters | 3 | Braulio Baeza | J. Elliott Burch | Rokeby Stables | 3:22.40 |
| 1968 | Quicken Tree | 5 | William Hartack | William T. Canney | L. R. Rowan/ W. Whitney | 3:22.80 |
| 1967 | Damascus | 3 | Bill Shoemaker | Frank Y. Whiteley, Jr. | Edith W. Bancroft | 3:20.20 |
| 1966 | Buckpasser | 3 | Braulio Baeza | Edward A. Neloy | Ogden Phipps | 3:26.20 |
| 1965 | Roman Brother | 4 | Braulio Baeza | Burley Parke | Harbor View Farm | 3:22.60 |
| 1964 | Kelso | 7 | Ismael Valenzuela | Carl Hanford | Bohemia Stable | 3:19.20 |
| 1963 | Kelso | 6 | Ismael Valenzuela | Carl Hanford | Bohemia Stable | 3:22.00 |
| 1962 | Kelso | 5 | Ismael Valenzuela | Carl Hanford | Bohemia Stable | 3:19.80 |
| 1961 | Kelso | 4 | Eddie Arcaro | Carl Hanford | Bohemia Stable | 3:25.80 |
| 1960 | Kelso | 3 | Eddie Arcaro | Carl Hanford | Bohemia Stable | 3:19.40 |
| 1959 | Sword Dancer | 3 | Eddie Arcaro | J. Elliott Burch | Brookmeade Stable | 3:22.20 |
| 1958 | Inside Tract | 4 | Conn McCreary | John J. Weipert, Jr. | D & M Stable | 3:23.40 |
| 1957 | Gallant Man | 3 | Bill Shoemaker | John A. Nerud | Ralph Lowe | 3:23.00 |
| 1956 | Nashua | 4 | Eddie Arcaro | Jim Fitzsimmons | Leslie Combs II | 3:20.40 |
| 1955 | Nashua | 3 | Eddie Arcaro | Jim Fitzsimmons | Belair Stud | 3:24.80 |
| 1954 | High Gun | 3 | Eddie Arcaro | Max Hirsch | King Ranch | 3:25.80 |
| 1953 | Level Lea | 3 | Bill Boland | Not found | John Shaffer Phipps | 3:27.00 |
| 1952 | One Count | 3 | Dave Gorman | Oscar White | Mrs. Walter M. Jeffords | 3:24.20 |
| 1951 | Counterpoint | 3 | Dave Gorman | Sylvester Veitch | C. V. Whitney | 3:21.60 |
| 1950 | Hill Prince | 3 | Dave Gorman | Casey Hayes | Christopher Chenery | 3:22.40 |
| 1949 | Ponder | 3 | Eddie Arcaro | Ben A. Jones | Calumet Farm | 3:22.80 |
| 1948 | Citation | 3 | Eddie Arcaro | Ben A. Jones | Calumet Farm | 3:21.60 |
| 1947 | Phalanx | 3 | Roberto Donoso | Sylvester Veitch | C. V. Whitney | 3:21.60 |
| 1946 | Pavot | 4 | Eddie Arcaro | Oscar White | Walter M. Jeffords, Sr. | 3:22.60 |
| 1945 | Pot o'Luck | 3 | Douglas Dodson | Ben A. Jones | Calumet Farm | 3:27.40 |
| 1944 | Bolingbroke | 7 | Robert Permane | Jim Fitzsimmons | Townsend B. Martin | 3:27.20 |
| 1943 | Princequillo | 3 | Conn McCreary | Horatio Luro | Boone Hall Stable | 3:23.80 |
| 1942 | Whirlaway | 4 | George Woolf | Ben A. Jones | Calumet Farm | 3:21.60 |
| 1941 | Market Wise | 3 | Basil James | George W. Carroll | Louis Tufano | 3:20.80 |
| 1940 | Fenelon | 3 | James Stout | Richard E. Handlen | Belair Stud | 3:24.40 |
| 1939 | Cravat | 4 | Basil James | Walter Burrows | Townsend B. Martin | 3:23.00 |
| 1938 | War Admiral | 4 | Wayne D. Wright | George Conway | Glen Riddle Farm | 3:24.80 |
| 1937 | Firethorn | 5 | Harry Richards | Preston M. Burch | Walter M. Jeffords, Sr. | 3:26.00 |
| 1936 | Count Arthur | 4 | James Stout | Bert S. Michell | Fanny Hertz | 3:24.40 |
| 1935 | Firethorn | 3 | Eddie Arcaro | Preston M. Burch | Walter M. Jeffords, Sr. | 3:24.20 |
| 1934 | Dark Secret | 5 | Charles Kurtsinger | Jim Fitzsimmons | Wheatley Stable | 3:24.60 |
| 1933 | Dark Secret | 4 | Hank Mills | Jim Fitzsimmons | Wheatley Stable | 3:25.20 |
| 1932 | Gusto | 3 | Buddy Hanford | Max Hirsch | Morton L. Schwartz | 3:25.20 |
| 1931 | Twenty Grand | 3 | Charles Kurtsinger | James G. Rowe, Jr. | Greentree Stable | 3:23.40 |
| 1930 | Gallant Fox | 3 | Earl Sande | Jim Fitzsimmons | Belair Stud | 3:24.40 |
| 1929 | Diavolo | 4 | John Maiben | Jim Fitzsimmons | Wheatley Stable | 3:24.00 |
| 1928 | Reigh Count | 3 | Chick Lang | Henry McDaniel | Mrs. John D. Hertz | 3:23.00 |
| 1927 | Chance Play | 4 | Earl Sande | Louis Feustel | Arden Farms | 3:23.00 |
| 1926 | Crusader | 3 | Albert Johnson | George Conway | Glen Riddle Farm | 3:26.00 |
| 1925 | Altawood | 4 | John Maiben | G. Keene | Glen Riddle Farm | 3:26.00 |
| 1924 | My Play | 5 | Andy Schuttinger | Roy Waldron | Lexington Stable | 3:25.60 |
| 1923 | Homestretch | 3 | Chick Lang | Not found | H. Alterman | 3:24.20 |
| 1922 | Mad Hatter | 6 | Earl Sande | Sam Hildreth | Rancocas Stable | 3:22.60 |
| 1921 | Mad Hatter | 5 | Earl Sande | Sam Hildreth | Rancocas Stable | 3:22.40 |
| 1920 | Man o' War | 3 | Clarence Kummer | Louis Feustel | Glen Riddle Farm | 2:28.80 |
| 1919 | Purchase | 3 | Clarence Kummer | Sam Hildreth | Glen Riddle Farm | 2:28.80 |
- In 1927, Brown Bud finished first but was disqualified.
- Only two horses started in 1920.
