U. S. S. Valor to Confront Gaudreau Again in Champagne

Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey has trained some of the best and most famous Thoroughbreds of the last four decades.

He knows what a promising 2-year-old colt looks like.

And he saw one in U. S. S. Valor  after the juvenile's Aug. 8 debut at Saratoga Race Course.

Team Valor International's homebred son of War of Will🔥   rallied from sixth to finish third by three-quarters of a length that day at the Spa, but McGaughey knew that was somewhat deceiving.

"He had the rail and I really didn't want to run him 6 1/2 furlongs, but that's what came up," he said. "If he had a post other than the rail, I don't know if he would have won, but he would have been closer or maybe second."

So, after that kind of endorsement and excellent speed figure in his debut, it was not surprising that U. S. S. Valor was a 4-5 favorite when he made his second start Sept. 5 at the Spa.

No, the surprise was not that U. S. S. Valor won, but how he won. He turned the 7-furlong maiden special weight race into a lopsided rout, showing more early speed and winning by 13 1/4 lengths with an even more dazzling speed figure in a performance that shocked a seasoned pro such as McGaughey.

"He came back and trained good and seemed to move forward. I thought he would run well, but I didn't think he could do THAT," he said.

Now, like most impressive juvenile winners at this time of year, comes the test that will reveal much about U. S. S. Valor's potential.

On Oct. 3 at Belmont Park, he will face five rivals, including the highly regarded Gaudreau , who won the aforementioned Aug. 8 maiden race, in the $500,000 Champagne Stakes (G1) for 2-year-olds at a one-turn mile.

"We'll find out more about him Saturday," McGaughey said. "We'll see what we got."

Saturday will also be telling about the Aug. 8 maiden race, which has emerged as a key race for the division.

Tanglewood Thoroughbreds, Thirty Year Racing, Bradley Thoroughbreds, Rodeo Creek Racing, Laura Leigh Stable, and Swift Thoroughbreds' Gaudreau, who has not raced since, pressed the pace in second and won by a half-length. Finishing second by a neck over U. S. S. Valor was Coach Pope🔥 , who won his subsequent start by a whopping 12 1/2 lengths at Churchill Downs and earned BloodHorse Maiden Watch Hot Prospect laurels in the process.

With Gaudreau and U. S. S. Valor squaring off Saturday, it will be interesting to see who has progressed the most in the last two months.

"People look at his win," McGaughey said about the half brother to grade 1-placed Expressman  out of Spangled Banner, a Tiz Wonderful mare bought by Team Valor for $225,000 as a broodmare, "but he got a lot out of his first race. It was a good experience. He ate some dirt. Sometimes a horse learns more coming from behind than being on the lead. He learned a lot in both races."

After a win that sparks Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) hopes, East Coast horsemen such as McGaughey usually have two main choices for a final prep for the World Championships: the one-turn Champagne at Belmont or the two-turn, 1 1/16-mile Breeders' Futurity (G1) at Keeneland, which just so happens to be the site of the Oct. 30 Juvenile at 1 1/16 miles. For McGaughey, the answer was simple.

"At Belmont, all he has to do is walk from his stall to the track," McGaughey said. "With the other race, he has to ship to Kentucky, and since I won't leave him there, he'd have to come back here. Given all of that, there wasn't really a decision in choosing the Champagne."

Speaking of the Breeders' Cup, as part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In, the winner of the Champagne will get a free spot in the Juvenile. New York's premier race for 2-year-olds is also part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby series and will award 10-5-3-2-1 qualifying points to the top five finishers toward the 2027 Kentucky Derby (G1).

Chad Brown, who trains the Louisiana-bred Gaudreau, is also looking forward to finding out more about his 2-year-old in Saturday's second career start.

"That was one of those key Saratoga races for sure. He's doing well and had his final piece of work in Saratoga," Brown said about the son of Nyquist   named for the late seven-time NHL All-Star Johnny Gaudreau who was killed along with his brother, Matthew, in a tragic 2024 bicycle accident. "We're looking forward to running him back here and that's been the plan all along."

The Champagne also features another 2-year-old who created a huge buzz with a debut win at Saratoga. Though for Club Reign , the bulk of the fanfare was caused by the presence in the winner's circle of his co-owners: Super Bowl-winning quarterback Russell Wilson and his wife, singer Ciara, who race under the banner of Three Brand Racing.

Trained by Whit Beckman, the son of Core Beliefs   won by 6 lengths in his Aug. 29 debut for the ownership group that also includes Ribble Farms and Walmac Farm, though his speed figure was a cut below the numbers posted by Gaudreau and U. S. S. Valor.