Stickney, IL (SportsNetwork.com) – An evenly matched field of 11 distance
runners will go to post Saturday in the $250,000 Hawthorne Gold Cup at
Hawthorne.Race Course.
Getting the call as the 7-2 morning line favorite for the 1 1/4-mile race is
6-year-old Ever Rider, trained by Marya Montoya for Waldorf Racing Stables.
The horse will leave from post 5 with Frankie Pennington coming in to ride.
Ever Rider comes into the Gold Cup off a victory in the Temperence Hill at
Belmont Park on Oct. 4. The 6-year-old previously was second to Gold Cup
entrant Cary Street in the Greenwood Cup at Parx Racing on Sept. 1 which came
one month after taking an allowance win at Saratoga.
Ever Rider began 2014 with a second in the Tokyo City at Santa Anita on March
29 and then at Belmont Park he dropped a head decision in the Drosselmeyer. He
recorded consecutive fourth-place finishes in Belmont’s Brooklyn and Suburban
Handicaps.
The 6-year-old has six wins, six seconds and four thirds in 33 career starts
for $397,963.
Cary Street is the 4-1 second choice in the program and will be ridden by
Miguel Mena from post 4. The 5-year-old gelding is trained by Brendan Walsh
and owned in partnership with Marc Detampel.
Along with winning the Greenwood Cup over Ever Rider, Cary Street captured the
Las Vegas Marathon on Oct. 31 at Santa Anita and finished third to Ever Rider
in the Temperence Hill.
“I claimed him for 10 grand about two years ago,” Walsh said of Cary Street
Cary Street has earned $370,275 from 19 lifetime starts with six wins, four
seconds and three thirds.
The 5-1 third pick is 4-year-old chestnut gelding Red Rifle from the barn of
trainer Todd Pletcher. Red Rifle, owned by Twin Creeks Racing, will break from
post 3 with Florent Geroux in the saddle.
Red Rifle began 2014 by finishing second in an allowance race at Gulfstream
Park on Jan. 17 and came back to capture the Maxxam Gold Cup at Sam Houston on
March 1.
The 4-year-old then was ninth in Keeneland’s Ben Ali and fourth in the
Westchester at Belmont Park. Moving to the turf, Red Rifle ran second in a
pair of allowance races at Belmont and Saratoga, and won the Yankee Affair at
Belmont on Sept. 6 before running second in the Sycamore at Keeneland on Oct.
16.
Red Rifle has won four of 12 career starts, with four seconds, for $262,520.
Here is the Gold Cup field in post position order: Abraham, Joe Rocco Jr.,
6-1; Hattaash, Sheldon Russell, 30-1; Red Rifle, Florent Geroux, 5-1; Cary
Street, Miguel Mena, 4-1; Ever Rider, Frankie Pennington, 7-2; Effinex, Angel
Arroyo, 15-1; Street Spice, Edgar Perez, 20-1; Call Me George, Emmanuel
Esquivel, 10-1; Fordubai, Israel Ocampo, 12-1; Mister Marti Gras, Tim
Thornton, 6-1 and Midnight Aria, Julio Felix, 15-1.
The Hawthorne Gold Cup has an approximate post time of 6:20 p.m. ET.
