SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Colonial Affair, in 1994, was the last horse to win the Whitney and Jockey Club Gold Cup in the same season. Since then, nine Whitney winners have tried the 1 1/4 miles of the Gold Cup without success. Arthur’s Ride, winner of Saturday’s Grade 1 Whitney in Saratoga, is expected to try and become the next horse to attempt to annex the prestigious double. This year’s Jockey Club Gold Cup will be on Sept. 1. “If you run well, or however you run, if you want to go to the Breeders’ Cup it gives you 60 days,” Mott said. “That’s got to be enough time.” Two Whitney winners who failed to win the Jockey Club Gold Cup - Blame (2nd) in 2010 and Fort Larned (3rd) in 2012 - did win the Breeders’ Cup Classic that year. Diversity in 2018 is the last Whitney winner to run in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, finishing fifth. Arthur’s Ride has already proven himself at 1 1/4 miles, winning a second-level allowance here in June by 12 3/4 lengths. The Gold Cup immediately became top of mind for Mott, he just wanted to find a race in between. There was really only one choice, that being the Whitney. :: Get Saratoga Clocker Reports straight from the morning workouts at the track. Available every race day. “You rarely make that kind of jump, but he was so impressive in his win here over this racetrack and then is the Whitney the ideal steppingstone?" Mott said. “It’s kind of the only steppingstone they have. Here’s a horse we waited a long time on, he’s in good form, he’s got a stallion’s pedigree. I could have run him in a three-other-than and I would have been 3-5 but I felt he deserved better than that.” Arthur’s Ride, a son of Tapit, was sidelined a year due to a strained tendon. He has now won three of four races since returning. The Whitney turned out to be the right steppingstone as Arthur’s Ride flaunted his early speed under Junior Alvarado and led from the middle of the first turn all the way to the wire, defeating Crupi by 2 1/4 lengths. Arthur’s Ride earned a 110 Beyer Speed Figure, nearly equaling the 111 he earned in that allowance. Mott said all appeared well with Arthur’s Ride Sunday morning, but he knows, in this game, things can change quickly. “He’s a high-energy horse, it always takes something out of them,” Mott said. “You don’t really see it a lot of times for a week. You think they’re doing great, then they’ll slide on you.” Trainer Todd Pletcher has a quartet of horses to choose from for the Jockey Club Gold Cup - Whitney runner-up Crupi, defending Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Bright Future, who finished eighth in the Whitney, Grade 1 Stephen Foster winner Kingsbarns and Grade 3 Monmouth Cup winner Tapit Trice. Crupi, who won the Grade 2 Suburban at 1 1/4 miles in Saratoga, rallied from 10th to get second in the Whitney, run over a sealed muddy track. Bright Future, Pletcher said, never got a hold of the surface. “I thought Crupi ran great, very pleased with his effort, he was closing well,” Pletcher said. “Bright Future did not like the sealed track. Javier [Castellano] said when he was warming up he didn’t even get on the bridle, then just never handled it at any stage.” Pletcher said one of his quartet - potentially Bright Future - could be considered for the Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic on Aug. 31 at Del Mar, which is the track the Breeders’ Cup Classic will be run on Nov. 2. Ways and Means will have one BC prep Ways and Means, winner of Saturday’s Grade 1 Test Stakes, will have one more race before the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, though trainer Chad Brown isn’t sure where or when that will be. In New York, a potential spot could be the $250,000 Gallant Bloom, a race whose date has yet to be announced, though it will be held at Aqueduct likely in late September. Ways and Means scored a 2 1/2-length victory over Emery in the Test, the first graded stakes win for the 3-year-old filly who got injured when running second in last year’s Grade 1 Spinaway and was second in this year’s Gulfstream Park Oaks. “She’s found trouble early in her races more often than not, she got a clean trip this time and it worked out great,” Brown said. “She really fired. [Flavien Prat] did a good job to get her out of the gate clear.” Ways and Means, a daughter of Practical Joke owned by Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables, earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure for the victory. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.