Rattle N Roll, Proxy Head Spa's Jockey Club Gold Cup

It was going to be extremely difficult—if not downright impossible—for the older male distance division to produce a star as bright as 2022 Horse of the Year Flightline  .

So it's not really shocking that after such a year of dominance, parity rules the division in 2023.

The division's major grade 1 distance tests have been captured by a variety of horses, with no one standing out a notch above the rest.

"It's a wide-open division," trainer Kenny McPeek said.

That theme figures to continue Sept. 2 when the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) will be contested at Saratoga Race Course with the winner receiving a guaranteed, fees-paid "Win and You're In" spot in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1).

The field of eight may lack a 2023 grade 1 winner but it at least has a couple of starters who have been knocking on the door of top-level success in recent months and could possibly use the mile-and-a-quarter JCGC as a springboard to success Nov. 4 in the 10-furlong Classic at Santa Anita Park.

Both Rattle N Roll  and Proxy  were second this year in grade 1 stakes and loom as the main contenders in the 105th edition of the JCGC.

Lucky Seven Stable's Rattle N Roll was last seen closing fast to take second in the July 1 Stephen Foster (G1), finishing a half-length behind the since-retired West Will Power .

"We're excited about running him a mile and a quarter. We've wanted to try him at a mile and a quarter for a long time," McPeek said about the winner of the Breeders' Futurity (G1) at 2.

The loss snapped a streak of three-straight grade 3 wins for the 4-year-old Connect   colt, who was victorious in the Blame, Pimlico Special, and Ben Ali stakes.

"He's been such a consistent horse," McPeek said about the colt bred by St. Simon Place in Kentucky who has a mark of 8-2-2 through 19 starts with earnings of $1,697,741. "He's run off a pretty nice resume and hopefully he can add another nice win to it."

Out of the Johannesburg  mare Jazz Tune, Rattle N Roll was bought for $210,000 from the Paramount Sales consignment at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Godolphin's homebred Proxy had a rough trip when eighth in the Stephen Foster then bounced back with an impressive 2 1/2-length win in the $400,000 Monmouth Cup Stakes (G3) when he uncharacteristically grabbed the early lead and never looked back.

"He was taken out of his game by being on the lead and he got challenged twice by two different horses, once on the turn and then in the stretch, and he repelled both challenges and went on to win by himself," trainer Michael Stidham said. "It wasn't the toughest competition but he faced some big challenges and won. We were proud of him and happy to get him back in winning form after the Foster. That was a race to draw a line through. We feel good about this one."

Proxy, by Tapit   out of the grade 1-winning Include mare Panty Raid, turned a corner in the second half of 2022 when he won the November 25 Clark Stakes (G1) after nearly five months of freshening. Since then, he was fifth in the Pegasus World Cup Stakes (G1), followed by a second in the Santa Anita Handicap (G1) and a win in the Oaklawn Handicap (G2).

"As a 5-year-old we have him in a good rhythm where he can put in good efforts back-to-back. He's matured mentally and physically. When you can keep a horse healthy and happy you have a shot to win some big races," Stidham said about the 5-year-old with a mark of 6-6-2 from 18 starts with earnings of slightly more than $2 million. "As a 3-year-old he wasn't quite where he needed to be and we gave him time to mature. It's paid off as a 5-year-old."

The field also includes a favorite of rock fans, Clapton . A 4-year-old son of Brethren   bred and originally raced by Arindel was privately purchased by RRR Racing and turned over to trainer Chad Summers after a second in the July 8 Suburban Stakes (G2).

The grade 3 winner was third in the Pimlico Special prior to that, finishing 4 1/4 lengths behind Rattle N Roll.

Trainer Josie Carroll will send out a pair in My RaceHorse Stable's Duke of Love , who is coming off a win in the West Virginia's Governor's Stakes (G3), and Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings and Stretch Run Ventures' Tyson , who will race on dirt for the first time after winning four of five starts on Tapeta at Woodbine.

Unbridled Bomber  was third in the Suburban, Bright Future  exits a sharp allowance win at Saratoga, and Warrior Johny  will be making his graded stakes debut after finishing third in the Hanshin Stakes.