After winning the 2-year-old maiden special weight of the summer at Saratoga Aug. 8, Gaudreau (Nyquist) will make his next start in the GI Champagne S. at Belmont Park Oct. 3.He's posted five workouts since his very promising unveiling, led by a four-furlong move in :47.83 (4/55) for trainer Chad Brown at Saratoga Sept. 19.“Knock on wood, it seems like all systems are go,” co-owner Pete Bradley of Bradley Thoroughbreds said.“His last two works have been just what Chad has told me he wanted out of him. Obviously, we've got one race and some of these other colts will have two races in them. That's always a plus, I think, for your competition, but nobody can train one up to the Champagne like (five-time Champagne winner) Chad Brown.”Bradley added, “It's a damn nice spot to be in.”Favored at 2-1 going 6 1/2 furlongs in the opener on Whitney Day, Gaudreau showed good early speed from an outside second through an opening quarter in :22.38.He hit the front while traveling nicely beneath Flavien Prat at the top of the lane, kicked for home with a 1 1/2-length advantage and dug down gamely to fend off next-out 'TDN Rising Stars, presented by Hagyard' Coach Pope (Tapit) and U. S. S. Valor (War of Will) to win by a half-length. Gaudreau earned an 89 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort. GAUDREAU breaks his maiden in the opener on Whitney Day under Flavien Prat for trainer Chad Brown. pic.twitter.com/qmx4DrG12B— NYRA () (@TheNYRA) August 8, 2026U. S. S. Valor returned with a jaw-dropping, 13 1/4-length graduation for Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey going seven furlongs at the Spa Sept. 5, good for a division-leading 105 Beyer Speed Figure. He is also being aimed at the one-turn mile Champagne, a 'Win and You're In' for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Keeneland.Coach Pope, meanwhile, followed up with a head-turning 12 1/2-length maiden victory of his own for trainer Ken McPeek going a one-turn mile at Churchill Downs Sept. 12.“Look, we know a lot of horses need that first start,” Bradley said. “Maybe we did too, though. The time was fast (1:16.41) and we still galloped out several lengths ahead of them. They don't pay you extra for that, but it gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling.”Gaudreau, bred in Louisiana by Coteau Grove Farms and named in honor of the late, seven-time NHL all-star Johnny Gaudreau, brought $220,000 from Bradley as a Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall yearling on behalf of a Bradley Thoroughbreds-led partnership group, which also includes Tanglewood Thoroughbreds, Thirty Year Racing, Rodeo Creek Racing, Laura Leigh Stable and Swift Thoroughbreds.Produced by the stakes-placed Congrats mare Free Cover, he is bred on the same out-of-this-world Nyquist x A. P. Indy cross as Grade I winners Cavalieri, Gretzky the Great, Immersive, Johannes, Knightsbridge, Nysos and Vequist.“He just had a real calm demeanor about him,” Bradley said. “I'd come back at three in the afternoon and look at him again, and same horse–walking well, great mind. I looked at him about five times–more than I usually look at a horse–and I turned to the groom and said, 'You know, this horse is either gonna be really good or a kid's pony.'”Bradley concluded with a big laugh, “Thank God he's not a kid's pony!”The post Gaudreau ‘All Systems Go’ for Champagne appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.