How to bet the 2025 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes

An excellent cast of nine, led by four Grade 1 winners including the defending champion in the contest, will vie in Sunday’s $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup S. (G1) at Saratoga. The 1 1/4-mile dirt test will reward the victor with a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) at Del Mar in the ‘Win and You’re In’ event. 

Jockey Club Wagers

• $25 win #2 Highland Falls ($25)
• $5 exacta key box 2 with 3,4 ($20)
• $2 superfecta 2 with 3,4 with 3,4 with 1,8 ($8)

I have really liked the pair of runs put forth by Godolphin’s #2 Highland Falls (5-1) this season, and he comes into the race with reason to move forward once again in his third try of 2025. A four-length winner in the tilt last campaign, the chestnut comes off a clear runner-up showing in the deep Whitney S. (G1) on the strip in his latest appearance and shows a pair of solid morning drills in the interim. 

Highland Falls is getting better with age, and I love how he has performed in his two local runs to date. The five-year-old has plenty of positional speed to gain a good spot in the early stages of the race and also has the acceleration to gain some separation from his foes when asked for his best. I feel as though he has never been better and will be a solid price under Luis Saez. 

Two-time Grade 1 hero #4 Mindframe (2-1) has done little wrong in his seven-race career and finished a big second in the Belmont S. (G1) in his lone local try, which was also his only prior attempt at the 10-furlong distance. The Todd Pletcher pupil, who was last seen bagging the Stephen Foster S. (G1) at Churchill Downs in June, can handle any distance and is versatile enough to run from on the lead or off the pace with equal effectiveness. The Constitution four-year-old figures to be prominent from the break in this particular spot beneath Irad. 

The consistently excellent #3 Sierra Leone (8-5) rallied from last to garner a fine tally in the Whitney S. (G1) in his latest effort for conditioner Chad Brown. The Gun Runner four-year-old has never finished out of the money in his career and is a proven commodity at the trip, evidenced by his triumph in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) at Del Mar in November. Flavien Prat will get this one winding up approaching the turn for home, and the colt will be tough to deny with his peak performance.