Hawthorne Gold Cup features Alpha, Last Gunfighter

Alpha and Last Gunfighter found the water too deep in their respective

Breeders' Cup races, but both are eligible to rebound with a strong showing in

Saturday's Grade 2, $350,000

Hawthorne Gold

Cup. The four-year-old colts highlight a field of nine in the 1 1/4-mile

event.

Alpha, winner of the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes three starts back, was never a

factor checking in eighth in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile in his last outing. The

Kiaran McLaughlin charge could find the added ground to his benefit,

dead-heating for the win in the 2012 Travers at 10 furlongs, and moves up on a

wet track (possibility for snow and/or rain). Eddie Castro takes over the reins

on the son of Bernardini.

Last Gunfighter has posted three graded stakes wins this season (Philip

Iselin, Pimlico Special and Excelsior) and finished second in the Grade 2

Suburban. He started slowly when stepping up in class most recently in the

Breeders' Cup Classic but offered a decent late showing for fifth, less than

five lengths back of the winning Mucho Macho Man, and returns to the right level

on Saturday for conditioner Chad Brown. The hard-trying son of First Samurai has

finished out of the money only twice in his career (14-7-3-2), both times

against Grade 1 opponents, and possesses some of the best BRIS Speed ratings in

the field, including a 108 for winning the 1 3/16-mile Pimlico Special. Joe

Bravo rides.