Seeyouattheevent Steals The Show At The International Gold Cup

Jeff Murphy was the king of Great Meadow at the International Gold Cup.

Choosing to remain in The Plains, Va., for the International Gold Cup instead of traveling north to Far Hills, N.J., for the Far Hills Race Meet proved to be a rewarding decision for Jeff Murphy.

With two major meets running on Oct. 17, Murphy capitalized on the jockey deficit by picking up two rides for Maryland trainer Jack Fisher.

Fisher put him up on Great Meadow founder Arthur Arundel’s Seeyouattheevent, who won the International Gold Cup in 2007. Just two weeks before this year’s win in the feature race, he finished second behind Erin Go Bragh at the Virginia Fall timber stakes with William Dowling in the irons.

With a $50,000 purse at stake, Fisher also entered Arcadia Stable’s 2008 Gold Cup winner, Bubble Economy (James Slater). Both horses had to contend with their old nemesis Salmo, owned by Irvin Naylor and ridden by Darren Nagle of Ireland.

Nagle was away all summer after a visa mishap and just returned to the United States. He guided Salmo to the win in the $75,000 Virginia Gold Cup on May 2, defeating Seeyouattheevent and Bubble Economy, and Salmo was considered a favorite coming into the race.

Music To My Ears (George Hundt, Jr.) and Incaseyouraminer (Ben Swope) took the lead early with Salmo close at hand. At many of the fences, Nagle rode Salmo on a different line than the others in order to keep his horse on better footing. Murphy let Seeyouattheevent settle into an easy gallop just behind the leaders.

In the final circuit of the 31⁄2-mile timber course, Gum Tree Stables’ Uppercut (Jake Chalfin) led the field to the last fence. Magalen Bryant’s Erin Go Bragh looked to be in contention, but he slipped badly in the turn and was pulled up by Carl Rafter.

Seeyouattheevent jumped to the lead after the last fence and crossed the finish line 31⁄4 lengths in front of Bubble Economy. While Uppercut came under the wire in third, a foul claim on Chalfin was filed, and a review of the race tapes revealed that Chalfin had cut a flag. The pair was disqualified, and Chalfin was fined $500.

“I don’t know if Jake just didn’t see the two flags or what,” Murphy said. “But there’s a brown one and a white one, and he was clearly on the wrong side of it. That’s how he got to the front so fast.”

Anne Haynes’ Shady Valley (Russell Haynes) moved up to third with Jubliee Stables’ Woodmont (Will Haynes) taking fourth. Salmo placed fifth and last. Dawn Williams’ Bon Caddo (Jacob Roberts) fell over a fence about 2 miles in, while Music To My Ears jumped Hundt off a short time later.

“Jack said not to go to the front and that he needed a good lead,” Murphy said. “I was a little worried about the footing. The week before you could not get a heel into it, it was so dry. With all the rain on Friday and Saturday it was soft on top but still hard underneath. It was pretty slick. I just tried to stay to the inside.”

Dowling also gave Murphy a few tips.