Ortiz and There Goes Harvard Upset Hollywood Gold Cup
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Photo: Benoit Photo
There Goes Harvard wins the Hollywood Gold Cup at Santa Anita
Take a fresh horse who loves 10 furlongs, add a trainer with recent Breeders' Cup and Triple Crown race success, and throw in a fantastic New York rider. The result? A Hollywood Gold Cup (G1) victory. Without a stakes win of any kind to his name, There Goes Harvard may have surprised a few, but he turned in an almost flawless performance to become a grade 1 winner.
Trainer Michael McCarthy has always felt that There Goes Harvard had the talent to step up to graded company. When the May 30 Gold Cup field at Santa Anita came up light in numbers, McCarthy decided the time had come to take the shot. Getting Irad Ortiz Jr. in the saddle was an extra bonus.
Stilleto Boy and Royal Ship had recent stakes form with Stilleto Boy defeating Express Train in the April 30 Californian Stakes (G2) and Royal Ship winning the April 10 John Shear Mile by five lengths in his first start since August. Royal Ship went off as the even-money favorite over Stilleto Boy at 3-2. Back-to-back allowance wins put There Goes Harvard as the 8-1 fourth choice.
When the gate opened in the 1 1/4-mile Gold Cup, Stilleto Boy went to the front, a tactic that had worked well in the Californian. However, Defunded didn't let that last for long. The two of them raced together early, and then Defunded took over before completing the first quarter-mile in :22.76 and he raced the first half-mile in :46.13.
There Goes Harvard broke from the rail toward the back of the compact bunch, but he was eager to run.
"There Goes Havard was fighting a little bit with me going into the first turn," said Ortiz. "They went a little fast. I tried to let him relax, settle a little bit, and he did come back to me on the backside. That was the key."
Ortiz was able to send There Goes Harvard three wide around the second turn, putting them in the clear and in a position to challenge Defunded at the eighth pole. There Goes Harvard got to the lead and edged away to beat Defunded by a length, stopping the clock in 2:02.66. Defunded finished 3 1/4 lengths ahead of third-place Royal Ship, followed by Stilleto Boy and Spielberg .
"I was pretty excited when I saw him stick his head in front coming to the three-sixteenths pole," said McCarthy. "I got a little emotional, but things just worked out properly."
The Gold Cup distance appealed to McCarthy for There Goes Harvard.
"I never thought the distance would be a problem," the trainer said. "We actually ran him a mile and a quarter at Churchill Downs (when second in a maiden race in April 2021). He was unlucky to get beat that day. These mile and an eighth races, mile and a quarter races—they're going to play right into his pedigree."
McCarthy trains There Goes Harvard for owner/breeder Michael Cannon (Cannon Thoroughbreds). There Goes Harvard is a Kentucky-bred son of Will Take Charge —Soul Crusader, by Fusaichi Pegasus and his dam's first stakes winner. The mare is a winning half sister to Hakeem, a champion in Turkey, and to Del Mar stakes winner Let's Go Cheyenne .
Trainer Michael McCarthy celebrates with jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., after There Goes Harvard wins the Hollywood Gold Cup
Though long defined as a former assistant to trainer Todd Pletcher, McCarthy is carving out a stellar career of his own. He won the 2021 Preakness Stakes (G1) with Rombauer and has won two Breeders' Cup races: the 2021 Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) with Ce Ce and the 2018 Dirt Mile (G1) with City of Light .
McCarthy didn't start There Goes Harvard until January of the colt's 3-year-old season. Though it took There Goes Harvard six starts to break his maiden, he never finished worse than third, except for the time he lost his rider during a race. Following There Goes Harvard's second in the Aug. 15 Runhappy Ellis Park Derby, McCarthy gave him a seven-month break.
"He had a little issue—he wasn't training as well as we'd have liked him to in the later part of last year," the trainer said. "I thought we'd go ahead and give him a little freshener. He's been a model of consistency since he's come back."
All three starts since the layoff have come in allowance/optional claiming company at Santa Anita. Second March 19 at a mile, There Goes Harvard won in a dead-heat at 1 1/16 miles April 17, followed by a 2 1/2-length triumph at mile on the turf May 14.