Bright Future Fends Off Proxy in Jockey Club Gold Cup

A thrilling edition of the Sept. 2 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course resulted in Bright Future  earning his first stakes victory by a nose over Proxy  who brought a far more accomplished race record to the 1 1/4-mile dirt race.

With the Jockey Club Gold Cup part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: "Win and You're In," Bright Future earned an automatic paid berth in the Nov. 4 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Santa Anita Park.

Bright Future, owned by Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable, and trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, was ridden to perfection by Javier Castellano, who is having a tremendous year with wins in the Kentucky Derby (G1), Belmont Stakes (G1), Travers Stakes (G1), and now the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup.

Proxy, a $2-million earner and the winner of last year's Clark Handicap (G1) and more recently the July 22 Monmouth Cup Stakes (G3), had a tough trip under Joel Rosario after breaking from post 1. The 5-year-old son of Tapit   was boxed in on the rail for most of the race, but unleashed a furious late charge down the center of the track to fall just short of collaring Bright Future, the 7-2 second choice in the eight-horse field.

Rattle N Roll , the 8-5 favorite, never mounted a serious rally and finished sixth, beaten 3 3/4 lengths by the winner. Bright Future and Proxy were well clear of Tyson , who finished in third, and Clapton , the fourth-place finisher. The final time was 2:03.00, the slowest running of the Gold Cup since 2011 when the winner, Flat Out  , ran the distance in 2:03.17 at Belmont Park.

Bright Future returned $9.50 for a $2 win bet.

After breaking from post 8, Bright Future and Castellano tracked the early pacesetter, Warrior Johny , in second through fractions of :22.25, :48.86, and 1:14.10. When the field reached the top of the stretch, Bright Future surged to the lead while Proxy was finally making inroads on getting in the clear. Bright Future appeared to be on the way to a clear victory until Proxy made it a horse race in the final yards.

"I really like the way he did it and the way he finished," Castellano said. "I had a lot of confidence after the way I rode the horse last time. He gave me the impression he was going to step up the ladder a little bit. I had a lot of confidence because this is a good horse and I thought he (could) do it. I had a beautiful trip and a good post today. It worked out great.

"I felt great because we went pretty quick (early) and had to hustle a little bit to put him in a good spot because we were way, way outside. I took a forward position and I could use my spot to get in the clear. I think that's why I used my horse a little bit, but we backed it up a little bit just to give a little break. I think it was the key to (winning) the race."

Bright Future is a 4-year-old son of Curlin   out of the Bellamy Road  mare Sophia's Song . He was bred in Kentucky by Clearsky Farms. He was bought by Mike Repole and Vinnie Viola of St. Elias Stable at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $350,000 from the Clearsky Farms consignment.

Unraced as a 2-year-old, Bright Future had won three of six starts before the Gold Cup, including a dominant victory in a July 21 allowance race at Saratoga. But in his only prior stakes start, the colt was a complete non-factor while finishing eighth in the June 10 Brooklyn Stakes (G2) at Belmont Park as the second choice.

"Just a really nice effort," Repole said. "A horse we had high hopes for last year. He's a Curlin. He was winning at a mile, so we decided to try him in the Brooklyn and we looked at each other and said, 'What were we doing?' Something happened that day but there's nothing wrong. He backed up his last win very impressively."

Pletcher, who said it was unlikely that Bright Future would run again before the Breeders' Cup Classic, always had confidence in the colt.

"He's a horse that we've always thought a lot of. I've got to give the Violas and the Repoles a lot of credit because we've had to kind of tap on the brakes a few times along the way and they gave him time to develop," Pletcher said. "We probably got a little ambitious when we tried the Brooklyn, maybe didn't have quite the foundation to be ready to go a mile and a half at that stage. We regrouped with the allowance race here and I thought it was a powerful performance, so from that time on we've been pointing for this and the horse has trained exceptionally well. Coming into it, we were optimistic he was ready to make a move forward."

With his victory in the Gold Cup, Bright Future elevated his career earnings to $716,940.

Video: Jockey Club Gold Cup S. (G1)