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Jessica Morgan / Eclipse Sportswire

West Point Thoroughbreds has been on a strong run lately, and president and CEO Terry Finley said there is plenty in the pipeline for the Saratoga Springs, N.Y., stable.

On Saturday Integration won the Red Smith Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct, Battle of Normandy won the River City (G3) at Churchill Downs and Cugino was a close second in the Hill Prince (G3) at Aqueduct. 2-year-old Maui Strong also broke through with a maiden win at Churchill on his third try.

Last month, Carson’s Run won the Jockey Club Derby (G3) for his second graded-stakes score of the year.

Finley discussed these and other promising runners owned by the stable, mostly with partners.

Integration. Trained by Shug McGaughey and co-owned by Woodford Racing, the Red Smith win was the second of the year in seven starts for the 4-year-old Quality Road colt. “Overall, it’s been a tough year. Things just were ready to fall into place. When you get these upper-level horses, they’ve got to come, and they’ve got to come with their A game. And they also have to get pretty lucky. And for one reason or another, he just didn’t have a whole lot of luck over the course of a year. But he still had a very solid campaign, and one that plenty of people would love to have. But overall, I love the fact that the partners stuck with us and never got rattled and always kept the confidence and the faith in this colt. It played out at the end of the year, and I hope it’s just a, just a little bit of an indication of what’s to come in 2025.”

He could be pointed to the Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1), where he finished fifth in January. “We’ll talk to Bill Farish and Ben Hagan (of Woodford Racing). We are 50-50 partners on him. And of course, ultimately, Shug is driving the bus here, but I know that Shug is very open to considering the Pegasus at the end of January.”

Battle of Normandy. This 4-year-old colt by City of Light out of the Kitten’s Joy mare Adorable Kiss, was bred by West Point’s Gage Hill Stables and Farish and is owned in partnership with Woodford Racing. Also trained by McGaughey, he reeled off three wins at the allowance level before scoring in the River City. “I don’t think I really had a total grasp of how gratifying it is to really start and to plan a mating and to work through and to come forward and have a 4-year-old get as good as he has. And, (bloodstock agent) David Ingordo, who we’ve worked with since 2017, planned that mating for us and so it’s just a lot of good mojo. … He was a very solid horse early in his career, every race you could tell he was getting a little bit better and a little bit better. And now he’s got a lot of confidence, and overall, he really thinks he’s the man. So I think he put it all together and he broke through the graded-stakes ranks the other day. So we’re very happy for him and his partners.”

He also is headed to the Pegasus World Cup Turf “in all likelihood.”

Cugino. This 3-year-old half-brother to Battle of Normandy by Twirling Candy was bred by Gage Hill with Farish and is co-owned by Jimmy Kahig. He was very sick as a 2-year-old and “was within days of not making it.” Trained by McGaughey, he debuted last November with a win. He was 1-for-6 this year heading into the Hill Prince, finishing in the top four in all his starts until coming in last in the Nashville Derby.

“I really look at his campaign as a 3-year-old, in a very similar way to Integration. We were very close and things just didn’t snap into place. We were going to be probably favored in the Saratoga Derby, and he got a little temperature like three days before the race. And then he had like three straight races he drew the outside post or one of the outside posts. And so we didn’t know what to think coming out of that, the only bad race that he had ever run, at Kentucky Downs. But he put it all together the other day and just was second best. But I think he also is set up for a great year in 2025.”

The Tropical Park Derby at Gulfstream on Dec. 14 could be his next start. “He’s had a good, solid campaign. So I think Shug is of the opinion he would benefit from a break and see if he can take the step forward and really kind of push his way into the upper ranks of the older turf horses that go a distance of ground in 2025.”

Carson’s Run. Trained by Christophe Clement and co-owned by Steven Bouchey, this 3-year-old Cupid colt is 3-for-5 this year, with a win in the Saratoga Derby (G1) and a second in the Nashville Derby (G3) Invitational at Kentucky Downs. His next start will be in the Hollywood Derby (G1) at Del Mar on Nov. 30 with Dylan Davis riding. “Very pleased with him. I know Dylan worked him the other day at Saratoga, and was over the moon and really excited to get out west with him.”

Maui Strong. This Kitten’s Joy colt was bred by New York Racing Association chairman Marc Holliday, who remains a co-owner along with Edwin Barker. Trained by Dale Romans, he debuted in August at Saratoga, finishing eighth, then was third at Keeneland before winning a maiden special weight at Churchill. “The other day, he had the outside post, which is very, very tough. It’s a big disadvantage at Churchill, obviously going two turns. And he just put in a stellar performance. Visually, it was the kind of performance that would indicate he’s going to be a force in the 3-year-old turf ranks next year. He was kind of overshadowed on Saturday by those other three that did well on the turf. But he’s a horse we are really excited about. And I know Dale Romans has done a great job with him, and he’s super excited to get him to Florida and to map out a campaign next year for him.”

Indispensable. This 3-year-old Constitution colt is trained by John Sadler and owned with Talla Racing and Barker. It took nine tries and nearly a year before he broke his maiden in July, and then he was second in Shared Belief at Del Mar and third last out in the Oklahoma Derby. “He’s going to run in the Zia Park Derby next week. Flavian Prat is going to ride him, and the vibe that we’re getting from John Sadler and (jockey) Juan Leyva out there is he’s at the top of his game. He was a good third in the (Oklahoma) Derby, and only got beat like a length or so. So we’re expecting him to put in a big effort in New Mexico.”

Jaxon Traveler. West Point is the sole owner of this son of Munnings, who is trained by Steve Asmussen. He’s 4-for-8 this year, including a win last out in a black-type stakes at Remington Park. “He just went over a million dollars at Remington Park, and he’s going to run the same day as Indispensable in the Zia Park Sprint. Steve Asmussen, he’s just been a magician with this horse, bobbing and weaving. He can’t handle Grade 1 sprinters, but he with the right Grade 3 horses and the listed-stakes horses, he can really hold his own. And he’s done it well enough to earn over a million dollars in his career, which we’re very proud of him.”