JOCKEY CLUB GOLD CUP

STAKES (GRADE 1)

DAUGHTERS can make fathers proud in a lot of ways. Lauren Evans? Well, she could have been voted daughter of the year when she told her father, Ralph, a longtime horse owner that she wanted to get in the racing game last year.

Ralph Evans tabbed Diversify for his daughter’s first purchase. Conditioned by Evans’ longtime trainer, Rick Violette, Diversify had won two races in two starts in his career and was being sold by WinStar Farm in its annual reduction at the Keeneland November Sale. Ralph and Lauren made one bid, purchasing the New York-bred for $210,000.

“My daughter has followed my horses ever since she was a teenager,” Evans said. “At this stage in her life, she had a little money of her own and she wanted to get into ownership, so I decided to try and pick out a quality horse for her to race in her silks. I felt very comfortable with the fact that Rick had previously trained him. He certainly had conditions left.”

Not any more. Diversify won two straight after the purchase, lost three in a row, and now has won three straight, including last Saturday’s Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park. Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. allowed Diversify to do what he does best, cruising on the lead to turn back Keen Ice and Pavel, earning the first Grade 1 stakes score for Evans – father or daughter.

Diversify stretched his speed over 10-furlong stakes to collect a winner’s share of $450,000 and earn a trip to the Breeders’ Cup, if they choose.

“We had a horse in the Breeders’ Cup once, a two-year-old, Upstart, so it’s not as if, ‘Ooh, I’ve got to go to the Breeders’ Cup,’” Evans said.

“It would be no shame to hit the board in a $6 million race, particularly when they’re paying your entry fee. If I had to make the decision, I would say 50-50, but frankly, I don’t make the decision.”

Either way, Lauren won’t be there. She watched Diversify lose a race by a nose and hasn’t been back.

“I wish she were here, but she’s a bit superstitious,” Evans said. “The one time that she did come to watch Diversify run, he got beat a nose and when she didn’t come, he won twice.”

Make that three times.