WinStar-bred Tawny Port punched his ticket for a trip Down Under when capturing Thursday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Belmont Gold Cup going a distance of two miles over the turf at Saratoga Race Course.
Owned by Peachtree Stable, Tawny Port entered the turf marathon event from a fourth-place finish when making his 7-year-old debut in the Grade 3 Elkhorn in April at Keeneland for trainer Miguel Clement. In capturing the Belmont Gold Cup, the son of Pioneerof the Nile earned a “Golden Ticket” automatic entry into the prestigious Group 1 Melbourne Cup in November at Flemington Racecourse.
“We are highly considering it at the moment,” Clement said. “We’ve got plenty of more racing to do domestically, but the international race is definitely on our radar. I’m leaning towards going.”
Breaking from post 3 under Flavien Prat, Tawny Port tracked sixth through the first two points of call while longshot Worthington set the early tempo. As Worthington dropped out on contention around the second turn, 8-5 favorite Corruption found himself in front down the backstretch with Tawny Port inching closer along the inside.
Around the far turn, Tawny Port was behind a wall of horses, led by Navy Seal with Corruption retreating to his inside. With only Navy Seal to catch in midstretch, Tawny Port launched a winning inside rally and drew off to a 2 ½-length victory in a course-record time of 3:17.75.
The victory made Tawny Port a Graded stakes winner on both dirt and turf. A winner of the Grade 3 Ohio Derby over the Thistledown main track during his sophomore season in 2022, he found a new home on turf the following year when taking the John’s Call at Saratoga. He now brags a career bankroll of $2,324,593, through a record of 32-6-6-5.
Tawny Port is out of the stakes-winning and multiple Graded stakes-placed Macho Uno mare Livi Makenzie. He was a $430,000 purchase from the Machmer Hall consignment at the 2020 Keeneland September Sale.
