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Cox Plate aspirant goes one better in Saratoga Derby with Melbourne on menu.
A trip to California was well worth the effort for jockey William Buick and Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Charlie Appleby as Nations Pride took out the Grade 1 US$1 million Saratoga Derby (1911m).
Entered for the Cox Plate (2040m) at The Valley on 22 October, Nations Pride was runner-up in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby (2012m) on 9 July when ridden by Frankie Dettori before winning this Saratoga feature at $3.10.
Rated at 126 in the R&S Ratings, the Godolphin galloper scored by #-lengths with the Todd Pletcher-trained Annapolis and Classic Causeway who led until the last 150 metres in third.
Nations Pride is a $26 chance with TAB for the Cox Plate.
Also entered for the Cox Plate, the Aiden O'Brien-trained Stone Age ($4.40) finished well out of the placings in the turf event for three-year-olds.