Flatten the Curve seeks ‘Golden Ticket’ in G2 Belmont Gold Cup

At 1h06, on June 5, 2025 By Belmont Stakes

The vocabulary word of the day could be ‘ausdauer’ [‘stamina’ in German] on Friday when Eckhard Sauren’s Group 2 winner Flatten the Curve seeks to become the third German-trained winner of the Grade 2, $250,000 Belmont Gold Cup in the past eight editions. Previous German runners to prove victorious were Andreas Wohler-trained Red Cardinal [2017] and Marcel Weiss-conditioned Loft [2022]. The race was not contested in 2020.

Contested over two miles on the inner turf for older horses, the staying test is a ‘Golden Ticket’ event offering the winner an automatic berth into the Group 1, Lexus Melbourne Cup worth more than AUD $8 million, continuing the partnership between NYRA and the Victoria Racing Club. “The race that stops a nation” will be held on November 4 at Flemington Racecourse in Victoria, Australia.

Trained by Henk Grewe, Flatten the Curve heads to the Spa having won four races on the bounce, including the two-mile Group 2 Oleander-Rennen, the same race both Loft and Red Cardinal won just prior to taking their Belmont Gold Cups. In order to become the third Bavarian brute to dominate the locals, the 6-year-old gelded son of Zarak must contest tighter turns than his predecessors, as the Saratoga inner-turf contest is arguably less European-friendly than expansive Belmont Park. In 2024, after six straight European victories in the race, heavily favored Siskany could only manage seventh behind The Grey Wizard. Thore Hammer Hansen, aboard for Flatten the Curve’s last three wins, rides again from the rail of the three-turn affair.

“He had his last fast work on Thursday and Thore rode him,” said Grewe, who brought over German stars Donjah and Sisfahan to finish seventh and 10th, respectively, in the 2020 and 2021 editions of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf. “We were both very happy with him. I don’t think he will have any problem with the left-handed smaller course at Saratoga or if the ground is soft from rain. He won for us at Nantes, where it was left-handed and a small track with soft ground. We learned a lot that has helped us from our trips with Sisfahan and Donjah.”

The aforementioned The Grey Wizard’s connections have brought his half-brother, The Ginger Wizard, to the race this year. While less-heralded and experienced than his frost-colored sibling, the Graham Motion trainee is on the upswing for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Frassetto Stables, fresh off a 12-furlong all-weather victory at Turfway Park. Earlier this season, when tested over the two-mile trip, the son of the recently deceased Calyx closed from 19 lengths back to finish fourth, beaten 2 1/4- lengths, in Gulfstream Park’s Listed H. Allen Jerkens Handicap. Umberto Rispoli rides from post 6.

“He really appears to want to run a distance this far,” Motion said. “Of course, two miles is a big ask, but he’s done very well and is coming along. He’s not as mature as his brother was this time last year, but he should be competitive. He was competitive in the two-mile race at Gulfstream and he’s come a long way since then. That’s how I’m thinking about it. Two miles tends to be a bit of an equalizer.”

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