Wimbledon Hawkeye prevails in Nashville Derby; ‘Curve’ crushes Gold Cup

European raiders turned a double in lucrative events at Kentucky Downs on Saturday. British flagbearer Wimbledon Hawkeye fended off Burnham Square in the $2.78 million Nashville Derby (G3), and German shipper Flatten the Curve romped in the Bowling Green Gold Cup.

Nashville Derby (G3)

The Gredley Family’s homebred Wimbledon Hawkeye hadn’t won since last fall’s Royal Lodge (G2), but the James Owen pupil had been running consistently well in tough company. His formlines even included a stateside pointer, thanks to his runner-up effort in the July 10 Princess of Wales’s (G2) to the older El Cordobes, the next-out winner of the Sword Dancer (G1) at Saratoga.

Wimbledon Hawkeye just missed in his latest in the Gordon (G3) at Glorious Goodwood, where he was edged by Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1) hopeful Merchant. He cut it close again in the Nashville Derby, but the 2.27-1 favorite prevailed in a gutsy display. 

Picking up Frankie Dettori in his first start outside of Great Britain, Wimbledon Hawkeye was drawn widest of all in post 12. The Kameko colt secured a decent early position in midpack.

Meanwhile, 85-1 longshot King of Ashes carved out the early splits on a firm course that was playing very fast. Turning into the stretch, Dettori asked Wimbledon Hawkeye, and the response was immediate as he rocketed to the front.

Burnham Square took off in rapid pursuit, though, and the Kentucky Derby (G1) sixth was clearly taking to the surface in his turf debut. The 13-1 overlay briefly appeared to have the momentum until he met the unflinching resistance of the winner. 

Wimbledon Hawkeye lifted again when challenged and rebuffed Burnham Square. Although the photo finish took a few minutes to decipher, the winning margin was a head.

“He jumped decent,” Dettori recapped. “I managed to get him in a good spot. Half the field had only run on the dirt, so I knew I had a little bit of an advantage on them. When I got to the three-eighths, I said, ‘Come and catch me if you can,’ because I knew I’d get the distance. 

“And the only one to come out of the pack was Brian (Hernandez Jr. on Burnham Square). He came that fast, I thought he was going to pass me. But Wimbledon Hawkeye showed great determination, and he kept on fighting to the line. I wasn’t sure. When you get that close, you don’t know.

“Good result for me. I lost my best friend two weeks ago in Dubai,” Dettori added. “I was thinking of quitting. It was his strength that made me carry on. He would have wanted me to carry on. And Tim Gredley’s family has been friends of mine for years. They were actually my neighbors for 20 years. So the whole thing means a lot. Tremendous prize money Kentucky has put up for these days!”

After post-race clocking adjustments, the 1 5/16-mile affair was timed in 2:06.76.

There was a 3 3/4-length gap back to Hill Road, who headed Test Score for third. Final Gambit rallied belatedly from last to grab fifth. Noble Confessor, Simulate, Maximum Promise, Sandman, Tiztastic, King of Ashes, and Tomasello concluded the order of finish. The also-eligibles, Iron Hand and Native Runner, did not draw into the field. 

Wimbledon Hawkeye banked $1,109,800, almost triple the amount of his earnings going into the Nashville Derby. His scorecard now stands at 12-3-4-3, $1,479,762, and his other stakes credits include placings in last season’s Futurity Trophy (G1), Superlative (G2), and Acomb (G3), along with this term’s Craven (G3) and Dante (G2). 

While Wimbledon Hawkeye’s resume deserved respect, Dettori’s only scruple was whether he’d run up to his ability at this stage of a busy campaign.

“The only thing I was afraid was that he’s danced every dance,” Dettori said. “He’s been going since April…then traveling across the pond. I was hoping that he would come here with his A game. But the team did a good job. He was in full form.”

“The horse is improving,” Owen said. “He's not the biggest, but he's getting stronger all the time, and he's a very consistent horse. I'm privileged to train him. I haven't been training long. It's my third season training, and to win this prize is unreal.

“I've never been to America, let alone race. We'll enjoy Nashville tonight!”

Wimbledon Hawkeye was produced by Eva Maria, a Sea the Stars half-sister to Group 2 winner James Garfield. This is also the immediate family of Jm Jungle, who recently captured the King George (G2) at Glorious Goodwood. 

Bowling Green Gold Cup 

Last weekend, Thore Hammer Hansen won the World All-Stars Jockeys competition in Japan. On Saturday, the German-based rider scored another international coup aboard Eckhard Sauren’s Flatten the Curve in the $655,000 Bowling Green Gold Cup.

Flatten the Curve’s previous stateside foray to Saratoga for the June 6 Belmont Gold Cup (G3) was ruined by rain. Despite the switch to the sloppy main track, his connections sportingly kept him in the race. Flatten the Curve tried to adapt before fading to a distant fourth, his only loss since joining trainer Henk Grewe in the fall of 2024. Conditions were ideal at Kentucky Downs.

Sent off as the 2.10-1 second choice, Flatten the Curve bided his time at the back of the pack for most of the early going. Hammer Hansen’s plan was to follow Limited Liability, the defending champion and 1.49-1 favorite. 

But unlike last year, when Limited Liability went wire-to-wire in the race then called the Nashville Gold Cup, he did not get close to the lead this time. Limited Liability ended up settling off the pace set by Goldeneye. 

When Limited Liability attempted to make a move on the final turn, Flatten the Curve moved as well, but he was traveling much better than the struggling favorite. Hammer Hansen accordingly decided to let him go on with it, and the contest was over at the top of the stretch.

Flatten the Curve shot 6 1/2 lengths clear down the lane. Although he was wrapped up on late and strolled across the wire, the Zarak gelding still had 5 1/2 lengths to spare over late-running Tawny Port. 

The track’s timing system did not capture fractions or a final time. According to a video review by Equibase, Flatten the Curve clocked 2 1/16 miles in 3:29.58.

Limited Liability checked in another 1 1/2 lengths adrift in third. Next came Goldeneye, San Siro, and Balladeer. Freedom’s Way and Lord Eddard Stark were scratched.

Flatten the Curve, now bound for Australia’s famed Melbourne Cup (G1) on Nov. 4, has compiled a career record of 41-8-9-4, $614,288. But the salient point is that the chestnut is a perfect 6-for-6 on turf for Grewe, including all five of his black-type wins. He earned his most prestigious trophy in the May 11 Oleander-Rennen (G2), and since his Saratoga venture, he rebounded in the July 5 Langer Hamburger. 

“He’s an unbelievable horse,” Grewe said of the erstwhile French handicapper that he’s transformed into a top stayer. “He came to our stable last year, and since then, the only time he lost was in Saratoga when they changed it to dirt.

“We had the perfect race. In the stretch, it was so easy, it was perfect. Very proud. It was my first win out of Europe. It’s something special for me.

“It’s much better than in Europe,” Grewe added regarding the prize money, “and the races for us are much easier over here than in Europe.”

Hammer Hansen also commented on the ease of Flatten the Curve’s victory.

“I think once we turned off the bend, I was pretty certain,” the winning rider said. “He was ultra-strong. He's proved us every single time that he can get better again. I think this is probably his best performance today, and it was great.

“I expected him to win, to be honest,” Hammer Hansen added. “I always have great faith in this horse. He's my favorite. He’s been ultra-tough for us ever since he went to Henk Grewe. If you take away the dirt race at Saratoga, that wasn't really planned, he's still unbeaten for us. Very tough horse. I expected him to win here, but the way he did it – I didn’t expect that. 

“I was planning to follow Frankie (Dettori on Limited Liability) the whole way, because I thought he was the horse to beat, but he was struggling and getting under pressure from a long way out. I just decided to roll out around him. I was pretty certain I was going to pick up the leader. So it's just worried that maybe (Joel) Rosario was going to come from behind (on Tawny Port). But obviously, he never did. And he won in a great fashion.”

Out of the Teofilo mare Lailoma, the French-bred six-year-old hails from the family of classic-winning sire Linamix.