Exactly what happened Olympics in the Whitney Stakes (G1) could be one of those great racetrack mysteries.
Maybe it was the humidity, which coach Bill Mott attributes it to. Perhaps due to some moist conditions the course was harder than normal and he finished in a surprising fourth place, just over nine lengths behind the winner Life is good in his first loss in six starts this year.
But that doesn't really matter anymore.
Olympiad emphatically put the August 6 blemish behind him when he won the final Saturday of the meeting in front of 32,063 spectators with an impressive two-length victory in the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) on September 3 got back on his feet Saratoga Race Track.
“It was nice to see him come back. “It was almost too bad to be true the other day considering the form he’s been in in his last five races,” Mott said. “I liked the way he took care of it today when we put the saddle on. Everyone was moving a little sluggish that day, but today he seemed to have a little more energy and a little more spring in his step.”
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The Olympiad is a clear success in the Jockey Club Gold Cup
If heat is indeed an archenemy for the son of Speightstown that probably won't be a problem next time when Olympiad takes place in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) on November 5th Keeneland. Although the Jockey Club Gold Cup was a Breeders' Cup Challenge stakes with a free win and you're in spot in the Classic, Olympiad previously won the WAYI Stephen Foster Stakes (G2) to earn his Breeders' Cup fees cover.
Instead, the JCGC provided evidence that Olympiad can handle the Classic's 1 1/4-mile distance.
“He answered the mile-and-a-quarter question today,” Cheyenne Stable’s Everett Dobson said after Olympiad’s first distance attempt. “We love that the Breeders' Cup is being held at Keeneland, Kentucky. We have a lot of friends there and we’re really looking forward to going there.”
Had Olympiad performed better at the Whitney, he likely would have prepared for the Classic in a race like the 1 1/8-mile Woodward Stakes (G1). Aqueduct race trackwhich leaves him a question mark with 10 furlongs to go before the Breeders' Cup.
“To Bill’s credit, four or five days after the Whitney, Bill said, ‘The horse is doing fantastic. We are not ruling out the Jockey Club Gold Cup yet.' It wasn’t even on the radar before that,” Dobson said.
After Olympiad won for the eighth time in 11 starts on Saturday, taking its first win in Class 1, the money and stakes will be significantly higher next time. His win puts him on the list of top contenders for the $6 million classic, and if he proves to be the best at the World Championships, he could secure the title of Horse of the Year.
(LR): Robert Clay, Jaime Roth and Everett Dobson lead Olympiad and Junior Alvarado into the winner's circle
“The Breeders' Cup kind of dictates everything,” Mott said. “There are some good horses in the division and I’m glad we’re up there with them.”
The Jockey Club Gold Cup win highlighted why heads were scratching after the Whitney victory when Olympiad was the second choice at 9-5. Previously, his five-race winning streak included three victories in the second grade.
Olympiad broke sharply and chased the leaders with 21-1 longshots Tax From second on the back straight over sluggish fractions of :24.54 and :49.70. As Tax faded at the turn, junior jockey Alvarado led Olympiad to the front and led by a length at the quarter pole.
Although China Horse Club and WinStar Farm American Revolution who defeated Olympiad last year in the Cigar Mile Handicap Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) and was the second choice at 2-1 on Saturday, gave chase at close range and was unable to reduce Olympiad's lead. The 4-year-old out of breeding by Emory A. Hamilton achieved a time of 2:02.11 in the 1 1/4-mile test.
“Junior drove him great. Everything worked out great,” Dobson said of the 8-5 favorite who paid $5.40 to win.
The Recent York-born American Revolution (Constitution ), one of four starters trained by Todd Pletcher, was 1 3/4 lengths ahead First captain a son of Lure coached by Shug McGaughey.
Pletcher's other three starters were fourth (Untreated ), fifth (Keep me in mind ) and sixth (Energetic ).
“Americanrevolution was stuck in threes the whole time. Olympiad passed him at the quarter pole and from there he tried to catch up,” Pletcher said. “We'll see what we do between now and the Breeders' Cup. From what we saw (when he won the Suburban Stakes, G2), Energetic One could fit a different scenario. I think Americanrevolution showed today that a mile and a quarter is within its reach.
Olympiad, who earned $2,007,500, was purchased on behalf of the ownership group for $700,000 by Solis/Litt Bloodstock from the Gainesway consignment for the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. He is the third foal from the Gold medal mare Tokyo time and their first tiered stakes winner. She also has a 2-year-old child War front Filly and a yearling American Pharaoh Foal.
Olympiad and his friends are cheerful about the victory
