Breeders’ Cup Classic: Thursday notes and quotes from Del Mar
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Here are notes and quotes from Thursday morning from Del Mar looking ahead to Saturday's Breeders' Cup Classic.
Antiquarian
Trainer: Todd Pletcher
Jockey: Luis Saez
Morning activity: Galloped 1 3/8 iles at Del Mar under exercise rider Edy Quinteros.
Planned activity: Will go to the track for a routine gallop. Expected to be at 5:45 a.m.
Closer Look: Centennial Farms returns to Breeders' Cup after 10 years with Antiquarian in the Classic
Antiquarian will be the eighth Breeders’ Cup starter for Centennial, whose first was Silent Account in 1985. Centennial’s Corinthian won the Dirt Mile (Listed) in 2007 for trainer Jimmy Jerkens.
Through the years, Centennial, founded in 1982 and one of the pioneers in racing partnerships, has campaigned many top horses. The most notable Centennial’s runners are Colonial Affair, winner of the 1993 Belmont Stakes, and Eclipse Award sprint champion Rubiano.
Antiquarian, a 4-year-old son of recent Centennial star Preservationist, joined the list of stable standouts Aug. 31 when he won the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at Saratoga. The Gold Cup is a win-and-you’re-in race for the Classic. He drew the outside post in the field of nine.
“It's always exciting to go to the Breeders’ Cup, win-and-you're-in or not,” said Don Little Jr., Centennial’s president and co-owner. “Especially this year, having a colt that is by a sire we campaigned as well. It's a unique and rare opportunity in this business. To campaign a Grade 1 winner and then campaign a son of the Grade 1 winner is very rare.”
Little’s late father, Don Little Sr., started Centennial and it quickly found success at the top levels of racing. Along the way, Little Jr. said, 14 of its best horses have gone on to be sires.
Preservationist followed that route after he won the Woodward (G1) and the Suburban (G2) in 2019. Centennial purchased Antiquarian from Preservationist’s second crop for $250,000 at the Keeneland September sale in 2022.
“We tend to try to buy one or two offspring of the stallions that have gone to stud that we've campaigned,” Little said. “We bought a few Unifieds. We bought a few Corinthians. Like a lot of things in racing, they don't quite pan out as you'd hoped, but this one did. We had the intention of trying to buy the best one that we thought was at the sale. And we were able to.
“Dr. Stephen Carr and Paula Parsons (farm manager and yearling trainer) have been with us from the beginning of time when dad put the company together. They were instrumental. They selected him out, he was our choice, and we bought him.”
Antiquarian proved he was a stakes-caliber runner as 3-year-old, winning the Peter Pan (G3). After finishing fifth in the Belmont Stakes (G1) he was given the rest of the year off to recover from bone bruising. This year he has been a horse on the rise.
“He's progressed very similarly to his dad,” Little said. “His dad didn't win a Grade 1 till he was 6, so we're ahead of the game, if you put it that way. Paula (Parsons), who broke him at the farm, always said that he was an athlete. He was large, a fairly medium-sized to large yearling, was a little bit goofy but we saw the potential in him. We always take our time and let the horse tell us what to do. He is still lightly raced. Look at this Classic. There are a lot of horses that are lightly raced, eight, nine races. The neatest thing about watching him grow and advance is it's been consistent, especially this year. Every performance, not specifically based on numbers, but the way he's done it and the way he's trained, it's a consistent move forward all the time right now.”
Antiquarian rallied late to finish second by 1 1/4 lengths to 2024 Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan in the Blame (G3) at Churchill Downs. Again showing a bit more resolve approaching the wire, he was second by a head in the Suburban (G2) on July 4. Antiquarian was not involved in the early bumping incident in the Gold Cup during which his Todd Pletcher stablemate Mindframe lost jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. He relaxed on the backstretch for jockey John Velazquez and was strong in the stretch.
While the incident just after the start ended Mindframe’s race and affected 2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Sierra Leone, who ended up second, Little said Antiquarian showed he was up to the challenge at the top level.
“The way he ran it, I think he would have been tough to beat, no matter what the situation that day,” Little said. “The numbers prove it, and we belong. We'll probably be one of the longest shots in the field, but I'll take it. We just deserve to be there, and Todd wouldn't be doing it if we didn't feel confident that we have a shot.”
Baeza
Trainer: John Shirreffs
Jockey: Hector Berrios
Morning activity: Galloped on the main track
Planned activity: Same routine Friday
The quote: Trainer John Shirreffs on the potential setup of the Classic: “There isn’t a lot of speed in the race, we all know that. I think it will be curious to see who decides to be the speed, because speed is always dangerous in any dirt race. Whoever wants to go, (it’s about) how much he wants to try to stretch the field. Everybody else are either closers or stalkers. This race is totally a riders’ race, and I don’t know that you can really handicap that easily. You know Chad’s got the one horse (Contrary Thinking) that he wants to go and make a little pace for Sierra Leone, and we’ll have Fierceness on the inside, and they want to get out of the gate. They don’t want to have that horse stuck in again, so they’ll want to get going. I see them past the gap trying to show a little bit of speed. Then, it’s how everybody else falls into place.”
On post position No. 2: “It’s not my favorite spot. Historically, a horse that hasn’t raced a lot prefers to have a little room, because when they break from the gate, they all want to get close to the rail. It can get real tight in there from the 1 and the 2 post positions. He’s been in a lot of different spots now, and he’s pretty experienced with that. In the Jim Dandy, he had the 1 hole, so I think he will be OK.”
Contrary Thinking
Trainer: Chad Brown
Jockey: Florent Geroux
Morning activity: Galloped 1 1/2 miles
Planned activity: Gallop 1 1/2 miles
The quote: “He went out the earliest of my horses and went well.”
Fierceness
Trainer: Todd Pletcher
Jockey: John Velazquez
Morning activity: Galloped 1 3/8 miles at Del Mar under exercise rider Danny Wright.
Planned activity: Will go to the track for a routine gallop.
The quote: “He’s a homebred, and he’s out of Nonna Bella, which means beautiful grandmother, and she’s out of Nonna Mia, which was named for my grandmother and also by Stay Thirsty, which won the Travers (G1) for us. Coming back here, now I’m in the game 20 years and now I’m, starting to see the bloodlines. I raced your dad. I raced your mom. I raced your grandmother. It’s pretty cool.
“He’s given us three amazing years. Brought us here to the Breeders’ Cup for three straight years. He’s given us some ride. He paid $35 in the Juvenile and won by seven. Last year he went off as the favorite. No matter what he does here I’m always going to say, ‘His best career race was the time he was in Del Mar in the Breeders’ Cup race and went :22, :44, 1:09 and he still held on to second.’
“There is some redemption but it’s also an opportunity to think about all the thrills he’s brought to me, to my family, to all of my friends, to Todd, to Team Pletcher.” – Breeder-owner Mike Repole.
Forever Young
Trainer: Yoshito Yahagi
Jockey: Ryusei Sakai
Morning activity: Walking, schooling in the parade ring
The quote: “He is in good shape after his fast work yesterday. I hope everything goes smoothly for the race on Saturday.” – a stable representative, Yukihiko Araki
Journalism
Trainer: Michael McCarthy
Jockey: Jose Ortiz
Morning activity: Galloped 1 mile at Del Mar under exercise rider Marc Witkowski and visited starting gate.
Planned activity: Will gallop.
The quote: Would you like to be placed closer in the Classic? “I think against the caliber of horses we're running against, I don't think you want to get yourself too far back. These horses just don't stop.” - Michael McCarthy
“We'll come up with a game plan. Obviously, we'll leave it up to Jose. Once the gates open, it's up to him. He was very tactical and the last couple races we've just gotten ourselves a little bit far out of it, whether it be the kickback, race shape, what have you. We'll just try to go ahead, bounce out of there and put him in a stalking position.” – Michael McCarthy
Mindframe
Trainer: Todd Pletcher
Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.
Morning activity: Galloped 1 3/8 miles under exercise rider Carlos Perez.
Planned activity: Will go to the track for a routine gallop.
The quote 1: “It's a great race. A tough race. If one of them win I’m not going to be surprised. And if they come in second, third I’m not going to be surprised.
“I’m hoping at the top of the stretch they are head-to-head and it’s about 20 lengths back to the rest of them and I just get to watch it. One of them I will see in the winner’s circle and the other I will come see at the barn.
“Very exciting. To be in this position to have two live chances in this race is great. But there's a little emotion, like knowing that when they worked last Friday, I knew that was going to be their last work. I just watched them gallop today. I'm not going to come tomorrow, it’s the last time I'm going to see them gallop. Then I'll come here on Saturday, and last time in the paddock, the last time watching them race. They’ve been special. I think they're running for each other, and they're running for the stable, they're running for my family, my friends and, in many ways, the fans also.” – Mike Repole on Mindframe and Fierceness.
The quote 2: Have we seen the best of Mindframe? “Other than when he didn’t finish for obvious reasons in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), he’s only come second twice. There’s only one horse that has beaten him, Dornoch.
“Dornoch beat him in the Belmont by a half-length and he beat him at Monmouth. This reminds me a little bit of when it was about Uncle Mo and Stay Thirsty. Stay Thirsty, until he won the Jim Dandy (G2) and he won the Travers (G1), he was in a shadow. I think Mindframe has that a little bit, but he’s raced against Sierra Leone two times. He raced against him in the Belmont and he came in second and Leone was third. He raced him in the Stephen Foster in June and he won. I think he’s a little bit under the radar, but I think we see the best of him every time.” – co-owner Mike Repole.
The quote 3: On the prospect of Fierceness and Mindframe retiring after the Classic: “I don’t get emotional that much, but I’m just trying to enjoy the moment with these horses. Both of them have been so special to me and my family. They are once-in-a-million horses, and I own both of them at the same time. It’s pretty special. Both great horses.” – Mike Repole.
Nevada Beach
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Jockey: Mike Smith
Morning activity: Galloped 1 1/2 miles
Planned activity: Same as Thursday
The quote: “I backed him up to the wire and then went a mile and a half. He really feels great. He is such a good boy.” – Exercise rider Morgan Kervarrec
Sierra Leone
Trainer: Chad Brown
Jockey: Flavien Prat
Morning activity: Galloped 1 1/2 miles
Planned activity: Gallop 1 1/2 miles
The quote: “He just went out there and galloped a mile and a half today and moved over this track very well. All of my horses seem to like the track.” – Chad Brown
Sovereignty
Trainer: Bill Mott
Despite the Breeders’ Cup Classic being in the rear-view window, life went on for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott Thursday morning on the Del Mar backstretch.
His 3-year-old superstar Sovereignty was lying in his stall the morning after being ruled out of running in the Classic because of a fever. He was the 6-5 morning-line favorite.
Mott said the Kentucky Derby-Belmont Stakes-Travers Stakes winner was doing better on Thursday. He said Sovereignty’s temperature was normal.
“But he is being supported by some medication to help him out,” Mott said. “His blood work really looks decent, nothing that is frightening.”
Mott said he has had a steady flow of well-wishers, be it in person or phone calls or text messages.
“People are apologizing, but they don’t need to apologize,” Mott said. “There have been people that have been in the game a long time comment to me. I said, ‘look, we have all been through it.’ There have been disappointments, not always in the Breeders’ Cup Classic with the favorite, but certainly we have all been through it.”
Now that he is just a fan of the Classic, Mott said he thought that defending champion Sierra Leone would be “formidable” and that Forever Young would have a major say in the outcome. He also said he hopes that the 3-year-olds running, particularly Journalism and Baeza, who ran against Sovereignty this year, have big efforts.
There has been no definite plan for when Sovereignty will leave California or what might be next for the son of Into Mischief, owned and bred by Godolphin.
“I hope he runs next year,” Mott said. “Maybe in a few days we will know what next year’s plan will be.”
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