Will Jerkens See Double Again in Gold Cup?
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V. E. Day (outside) rallied to overtake Wicked Strong to win the Travers Stakes in August at Saratoga Race Course. Both horses are trained by Jimmy Jerkens, and they will meet again Saturday in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. (Photo by Eclipse Sportswire)
By Tom Pedulla, America’s Best Racing
Together again.
V. E. Day, who edged stablemate Wicked Strong by a desperate nose in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes in the most recent start for each of them, will stage a rematch in the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup on Saturday at Belmont Park.
Entering both horses was not the easiest decision for trainer Jimmy Jerkens, but he felt it was unavoidable.
“I didn’t think the Pennsylvania Derby was the right spot for either one of them,” Jerkens said. “So after that, there weren’t many options.”
Bayern coasted wire-to-wire to take the Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby, a 1 1/8-mile mile race on Sept. 20 at Parx Racing.
Running both in the Grade 1 Gold Cup meant Jerkens could avoid shipping either horse. He also could run them at the 1 ¼-mile distance on their home track. If it leads to a couple of more anxious minutes of mixed emotions for Jerkens, so be it.
“You don’t get into these situations too often where you have two horses that looked like they had legitimate chances and owners want to run,” the trainer said. “What are you going to do?”
2014 TRAVERS STAKES
Courtesy of NYRA
Jerkens is doing what he must. He is respecting the wishes of Magalen O. Bryant, who owns Grade 1 winner V. E. Day, and those of Centennial Farms, which pays the bills for Wicked Strong. And he can only hope for another blanket one-two finish as his two high-caliber 3-year-olds oppose older horses for the first time as part of a field of 12. The Gold Cup carries an automatic berth in the $5-million Breeders’ Cup Classic, to be run Nov. 1 at Santa Anita Park.
Of Jerkens’ two starters, V. E. Day appears to be more of a horse on the rise while Wicked Strong is known for consistency. The Travers marked the fourth consecutive victory for V. E. Day and it came in his first test at the graded stakes level.
That is not bad for a colt that Jerkens considered running for a high claiming price because he started his career so slowly.
“When I first got him, we couldn’t keep any flesh on him and he was kind of the nervous type,” he said. “We even entertained the thought of running him in a high-priced claiming race. Thank God, we didn’t. But we were toying with the idea because it took him a long time to turn the corner.”
Wicked Strong ran fourth in the Kentucky Derby and finished in a dead-heat with Derby and Preakness winner California Chrome for fourth in the Belmont Stakes. A victory in the Jim Dandy Stakes preceded his narrow defeat in the Travers, when he could not quite fend off his stablemate’s late surge.
JERKENS AFTER THE TRAVERS
Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
Jerkens expects another big effort from Wicked Strong, a son of hard-hitting Hard Spun.
“He’s a hearty animal. He’s a good-feeling and high-spirited horse who has kept his edge,” he said, adding, “I’d be very surprised if we didn’t see the same kind of effort from him on Saturday.”
Wicked Strong, with Rajiv Maragh retaining the mount, is the early 3-1 favorite from post eight.
Moreno, a 4-year-old, is the 7-2 second choice, but Junior Alvarado may have a difficult time capitalizing on his blistering early speed from post 11. Tonalist, the 4-1 third choice from post eight, has demonstrated an affinity for Belmont Park with successes in the Peter Pan Stakes and the Belmont Stakes.
Interestingly, trainer Christophe Clemente has opted to take the blinkers off Tonalist for this race after he finished second in the Jim Dandy and third in the Travers, beaten by 2 ½ lengths, in two starts at Saratoga Race Course.
“Tonalist was a bit more aggressive than I wanted him in both of his races in Saratoga,” Clemente said. “He’s an older horse than he was in May or June and he’s more mature. He’s been working without blinkers after the Travers and he’s working well.”
Such is life when trying to overtake not one, but two, horses from the same outfit.
$1-million Jockey Club Gold CupBelmont Park, Saturday, Race 10, Post time 5:50 p.m. ET1 1/4 miles on dirt for 3-year-olds & up
PP
Horse
Jockey
Weight
Trainer
1
Micromanage (KY)
Luis Saez
126
Todd Pletcher
2
Last Gunfighter (KY)
Joe Bravo
126
Chad Brown
3
Wicked Strong (KY)
Rajiv Maragh
122
Jimmy Jerkens
4
Zivo (NY)
Jose Lezcano
126
Chad Brown
5
Prayer for Relief (KY)
John Velazquez
126
Dale Romans
6
Long River (KY)
Cornelio Velasquez
126
Kiaran McLaughlin
7
Speak Logistics (FL)
Paco Lopez
126
Gary Contessa
8
Tonalist (KY)
Joel Rosario
122
Christophe Clement
9
Stephanoatsee (KY)
Jose Ortiz
126
Nick Zito
10
V. E. Day (KY)
Javier Castellano
122
Jimmy Jerkens
11
Moreno (KY)
Junior Alvarado
126
Eric Guillot
12
Big Cazanova (ARG)
Irad Ortiz Jr.
126
Peter Miller