Tonalist Joins Elite Group With Jockey Club Gold Cup Win

Tonalist won his second consecutive Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont on Sept. 3. (Photo by Eclipse Sportswire)
By Tom Pedulla, America’s Best Racing
ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Christophe Clement patiently waited for the day when everything would fall into place for Tonalist. That finally happened on Saturday.
Tonalist again showed his affinity for Belmont Park and a sloppy track in dominating the $1-million Jockey Club Gold Cup by 4 ¾ lengths against Wicked Strong for only his second win in five starts this year. He was favored in all five races.
“I’ve never lost my faith in the horse. I never thought he was disappointing,” Clement said. “He was a bit unlucky.”
The 4-year-old son of Tapit became only the 11th horse to win consecutive editions of the Gold Cup. He joined elite company that includes Nashua (1955-56), Kelso (1960-64), Skip Away (1996-97) and Curlin (2007-08).
“It’s a wonderful race,” Clement said. “It’s good to win it two years in a row.”
Tonalist made it 2-for-2 on a wet track. He won for the fifth time with a pair of runner-up finishes in seven starts at Belmont Park, his home base. He opened his 4-year-old campaign with a convincing 3 ¾-length victory in the Westchester at Belmont on May 2.
But a series of disappointing results followed. A wide trip contributed to a 3 ¾-length defeat to classy Honor Code in the Metropolitan Mile on June 6. Jockey John Velazquez was criticized for making a premature move in the Suburban that contributed to a tough beat, by a head, on July 4 at Belmont.
“I let him do what he wanted to do instead of taking hold of him and he got caught,” Velazquez said of the Suburban.
Tonalist and Velazquez found themselves far back and seemingly with far too much to do in finishing third to Liam’s Map and Honor Code in the Whitney at Saratoga on Aug. 8.
Through it all, Clement continued to believe in Tonalist. “I would never trade my position with anybody else, even if he got beat,” he said.
Tonalist trained sharply for the Gold Cup, and it showed with the big money and automatic entry into the $5-million Breeders' Cup Classic on the line. “He was so much better,” Velazquez said. “Everything worked out perfect. He was so good and traveling so well throughout the race.”
Tonalist sat off frontrunning Constitution and Wicked Strong before making an explosive move nearing the quarter pole that allowed him to coast home. He completed the mile-and-a-quarter in 2:02.16.
Tonalist finished fifth in last year’s Classic at Santa Anita Park. Clement looks forward to taking another shot at what will looms as a star-studded field expected to include Triple Crown champion American Pharoah and Beholder, a splendid filly, on Oct. 31 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.
“I think we belong with that group,” Clement said.
2015 JOCKEY CLUB GOLD CUP

Courtesy of NYRA
In other major races on the Super Saturday undercard:
Champagne: Jockey Joe Bravo was already thinking ahead to the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile after Greenpointcrusader earned an automatic berth by kicking off to a 4 ½-length rout of Sunny Ridge. The son of Bernardini won impressively despite stumbling from the starting gate and being forced approximately seven wide entering the final furlong of the one-mile contest.
“The last sixteenth of a mile, I kind of geared him down. I didn’t really want to get to the bottom of him,” Bravo said. “His next one is going to be sick.”
2015 CHAMPAGNE STAKES

Courtesy of NYRA
Frizette: Nickname made a name for herself with an emphatic 3 ½-length decision against Nemoralia for jockey Javier Castellano and trainer Steve Asmussen in her first graded stakes try. Nickname, in her third career start, tracked She’s All Ready in second before taking command when she turned for home.
When Asmussen was asked about going on to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, he responded, “I do know the last time we won the Frizette it was with My Miss Aurelia, who went on and won the Juvenile Fillies.”
2015 FRIZETTE STAKES

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Flower Bowl Invitational: Defending champion Stephanie’s Kitten and Dana Cavallo provided trainer Chad Brown with a one-two finish in this “Win and You’re In” contest for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf. Stephanie’s Kitten placed second in the Filly and Mare Turf last year.
According to Brown, the 6-year-old daughter of Kitten’s Joy is as good as ever. “Her last two breezes were as good as I’ve seen her breeze in a year,” he noted. “You look at her, she’s run at the Grade 1 level from age 2 to 6. That’s very rare.”
2015 FLOWER BOWL INVITATIONAL STAKES

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Kelso: Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey second-guessed himself after watching Honor Code’s late bid leave him third behind Appealing Tale and Red Vine in this one-mile race. He admitted the extra quarter of a mile in the Jockey Club Gold Cup might have been helpful.
“I’ve run a couple of horses in the Gold Cup who came back in the Breeders’ Cup and did not run as well. That was in the back of my mind,” he said of choosing the Kelso.
Winning trainer Peter Miller plans to enter Appealing Tale in the TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint and the Las Vegas Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, but is leaning toward the Dirt Mile. McGaughey, who continues to target the $5-million Classic for Honor Code, said all of the serious training will be done at Belmont Park.
2015 KELSO HANDICAP

Courtesy of NYRA