Gold Cup works for Pletcher horses

Elmont, NY (Sports Network) – Cross Traffic and Palace Malice, each trained by Todd Pletcher, both put in final workouts Saturday at Belmont Park for next week’s $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup.

Whitney Handicap winner Cross Traffic worked five furlongs in 1:01.52 and Belmont Stakes champ Palace Malice covered four furlongs in 48.43 seconds.

“I thought Palace Malice’s was more of the standard we’ve seen from him,” Pletcher said. “It was a good steady breeze with a very strong gallop out. He went willingly on his own, in hand, and we were very, very pleased with it. He looked well this morning and judging by his race in the Belmont, he likes it here.

“I thought Cross Traffic and Graydar worked very well. It’s the third consecutive breeze they’ve had together. It served them both well. In company, they stay more focused without overdoing it. We wanted to make sure we got a good solid work into both of them. One of them is coming off a significant layoff and the other hasn’t run since the Whitney, and I think we got what we were looking for.”

Also working for the Gold Cup was Woodward winner Alpha, trained by Kiaran McLaughlin.

The 4-year-old, owned by Godolphin Stable, went five furlongs at Saratoga Race Course’s Oklahoma training track in 1:02.90.

“He worked on his own, and will ship down Wednesday morning,” noted McLaughlin. “All is well, other than we don’t have a jockey yet.’

Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez was aboard Alpha in the Woodward on Aug. 31.

“The Woodward was a huge win for the horse, the trainer, the owner and everyone,” McLaughlin added.

Categorized in: Horses