Heat Wave Carries Nitrogen Into Gold Cup Consideration

High temps in Kentucky has Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse rethinking next-race plans for star 4-year-old filly Nitrogen. Originally scheduled to travel from Saratoga Race Course to Churchill Downs Sept. 5 to compete Sept. 12 in the Locust Grove Stakes (G2), Casse told Daily Racing Form's David Grening that the temperature was too high for him to consider vanning her. Temperatures Saturday in Louisville, Ky., reached the upper 90s with the feels-like temperature close to 100 degrees. Casse told BloodHorse that he was driving to Kentucky Downs Sept. 4 when he passed through Louisville at 101 degrees. "It would be one thing if she was here (in Kentucky), but you have to remember she'll be riding in a van for 15-16 hours," Casse said. "I just didn't want to do that with her." The change in travel plans has now pulled two Belmont Park races onto the D. J. Stable homebred's radar: the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1) over 1 1/4 miles against males Sept. 18 and the $250,000 Beldame Stakes (G2) over 1 1/8 miles against fillies and mares Sept. 25. A third possible landing spot for Nitrogen could be the $650,000 Spinster Stakes (G1) Oct. 4 at Keeneland going 1 1/8 miles against fillies and mares. The Jockey Club Gold Cup increased it's position on the radar when Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott told Grening Sept. 4 that reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty would miss an intended workout for the Gold Cup this weekend with a foot abscess. Sovereignty defeated Nitrogen Aug. 8 by 4 3/4 lengths in the Whitney Stakes (G1) at Saratoga, her first start against males. Casse said he heard the news that Sovereignty might not be running just about an hour before he drove through Louisville, and he placed a call to D. J. Stable's Len and Jon Green. "We talked about it a little bit last night," Casse said. "This morning, the only decision we had to make was whether we would ship her or not, and we decided not to do that. We're definitely looking at the Gold Cup, but we're not going to make that decision for a little while." Sovereignty was not the only heavyweight signed up for the Jockey Club Gold Cup as Japan's Forever Young (JPN) is slated to start, as he prepares for a title defense in the $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) Oct. 31 at Keeneland. The son of Real Steel (JPN) performed his final domestic workout Sept. 4 in Japan before beginning the shipping process. Trained by Yoshito Yahagi for Susumu Fujita, Forever Young last raced March 28 when finishing second to Magnitude in the Dubai World Cup (G1).