2011 Jockey Club Gold Cup Field: Potential Entries

Written by Caitlin Patton
Tuesday, 27 September 2011 02:09

The 2011 Jockey Club Gold Cup is coming up on Saturday and we’ll take a second to preview the potential entries.

Currently there are 10 potential entries set to run in the 1 ¼-mile dirt race in the 2011 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park, but possible favorite Tizway will not be in the field after pulling out with a fever.  The Jockey Club Gold Cup field still looks strong without Tizway, and we’ll talk about each horse that appears set to be in the gate at the 5:55 PM ET post time.

Make sure to bet on the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Legends Sportsbook.  They are offering our readers a 25% cash bonus, so make sure to sign-up before this ESPN Classic-televised race.  You can wager on tracks from all over the country from your home computer, and 2012 Kentucky Derby odds are already starting to come available for betting.

2011 Jockey Club Gold Cup – Potential Entries:

Stay Thirsty – Likely Jockey Club Gold Cup favorite is fresh off wins in the Jim Dandy and Travers Stakes after finishing 2nd in the 2011 Belmont Stakes.  Sired by Bernardini, Stay Thirsty is peaking in a major way right now.

Haynesfield – 2010 Jockey Club Gold Cup winner is back for another try, but he hasn’t won in his last 4 starts and hasn’t raced since a 5th place finish in the Metropolitan Handicap back in May.  It will be interesting to see how hard he’ll be pushed in his first start back.

Flat Out – Although he’s finished 2nd in both the Woodward Stakes and the Whitney Handicap most recently, Flat Out did win the Suburban Handicap on this same track in July.  He’s one of the most “in form” horses that are being mentioned as Jockey Club Gold Cup entries.

Rail Trip – Finished 5th in the 2010 Jockey Club Gold Cup and 3 of his last 4 have been at Belmont Park.  The problem for Rail Trip is that he hasn’t won in his last 5 races, and all 4 career wins were on a synthetic surface at Hollywood Park.

Drosselmeyer – 2010 Belmont Stakes winner has never finished outside of 2nd in 4 career starts here, but he is coming off a 7th place finish in the Sword Dancer Invitational on turf.  That race came after a layoff of over 2 months and I’m expecting Drosselmeyer to be back at his best for the Jockey Club Gold Cup.

A.U. Miner – 2010 and 2011 Greenwood Cup winner is off a 1st place finish, and the Jockey Club Gold Cup will mark his 3rd race back since taking some time off following a 3rd place run in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Marathon.

Apart – Came up a disappointing 9th to Tizway in the Whitney Handicap and the distance here will be his longest career race.  Flat Out and Apart are both horses sired by Flatter.

Ice Box – 2010 Kentucky Derby runner-up Ice Box hasn’t looked strong since that run, and he’s finished no better than 3rd in his 6 races after that big run at Churchill Downs.  Ice Box took 3rd in an allowance and 6th in the Woodward Stakes since coming back in late 2011.

Hymn Book – Although he’s spent quite a bit of time on turf, it is worth noting that Hymn Book has finished no worse than 2nd in 3 career dirt races.  He won the Three Coins Up at Belmont Park before coming in 2nd to Flat Out on this track in the Suburban Handicap earlier this year.

Birdrun – Has finished 1st or 2nd in all 5 career races here, and has finished in the top 2 in his last 3 career races overall.  He bested Drosselmeyer in the 2011 Brooklyn Handicap and the Jockey Club Gold Cup will be Birdrun’s 6th straight of the year.