Over the course of less than 24 hours, owner Mike Repole and trainer Todd Pletcher endured as turbulent a shift of emotions as anyone in Thoroughbred racing could imagine.
On Aug. 30, they combined to win the Pacific Classic (G1) at Del Mar with Fierceness.
The following afternoon at Saratoga Race Course, they watched with fear and anxiety as their multiple grade 1 winner Mindframe was bumped hard and unseated jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. in the early stages of the mile-and-a-quarter, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1).
As Mindframe circled the track without a rider and Ortiz was carried off the track to an ambulance before the field of eight returned to the stretch, Pletcher had one eye on Mindframe and another on Centennial Farms' Antiquarian, who won a troubled edition of the JCGC by 1 1/2 lengths over 6-5 favorite Sierra Leone.
"I have mixed emotions. You hate to see anything like that happen," said Pletcher, who added that Mindframe appeared fine when he was caught by outriders. "It was nice to have Antiquarian get his due. It was a huge win for Centennial. So I'm very happy for them."
For Antiquarian, who was coming off a close second in the mile-and-a-quarter Suburban Stakes (G2) at the Spa, the victory in the "Win and You're In" Breeders' Cup Challenge race earns him a fees-paid spot in the Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Del Mar.
"It goes back to the team my dad (the late Donald Little Sr.) put together years ago," said Centennial president and co-owner Don Little Jr. "We've stuck to our guns with this, so it's great. We'll look into the Classic and talk very seriously about it with Todd. I imagine we would train up to it."
The victory was enhanced by Antiquarian being a son of the late Preservationist, a grade 1 winner raced by Centennial.
"That makes it that much more special," said Little, whose partnership bought the colt bred by the late Brereton Jones out of the Istan mare Lifetime Memory for $250,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. "To have Centennial win this a second time is really, really exciting and special (Colonial Affair won the JCGC for Centennial in 1994)."
Sadly, Preservationist died a month ago in Korea.
As for the scary incident at the start of Sunday's race, Ortiz was taken to Albany Medical Center complaining of wrist and rib pain.
"My concern was for Irad," Repole said. "I couldn't even watch the race."
There also was an emotional complaint from Repole, who blamed the incident on the presence of 70-1 rabbit Contrary Thinking, even though it was Phileas Fogg and jockey Kendrick Carmouche who came in to cause the bumping and was disqualified from third to last. Contrary Thinking was entered by owner Peter Brant and trainer Chad Brown to ensure a fast pace for their stretch-running Sierra Leone, who won the Whitney Stakes (G1) four weeks earlier with Contrary Thinking pressing the pace.
Phileas Fogg reached the wire third but was disqualified and declared officially unplaced.
"The stewards should not have taken that entry of a horse who had no intention of winning," said Repole, who owns Mindframe in partnership with St. Elias Stables.
Phileas Fogg won the Suburban on the front end and came over to the left on Sunday soon after the break while trying to get to the lead again. He came into Contrary Thinking's path, forcing jockey Dylan Davis to shift to the left, bumping with White Abarrio and nearly knocking his jockey, Edgard Zayas, out of the saddle. White Abarrio, in turn, hit 9-5 second choice Mindframe, dislodging Ortiz, who tumbled to the ground and narrowly avoided serious injury when Sierra Leone and jockey Flavien Prat moved out a few paths and only seemed to graze him.
"Kendrick knew he has a speed horse and he thought if he knocks that horse out, he gets an easy lead and then the rabbit knocked over White Abarrio and Mindframe. At the end of the day, Centennial Farms won, Antiquarian won, Todd Pletcher won and you know what, Sierra Leone came in second without his little emotional support rabbit," said Repole, who addressed the incident in a video posted on X.com. "The good guys won. I love Kendrick but it was careless. It happened because of the horse that wasn't supposed to be in the race The stewards took the entry and this sport will do what it continues to do. Screw up once and then screw up 1,000 times more and they will do nothing about it."
Pletcher was more diplomatic in addressing the incident.
"It's horrible when something like that happens. When you have a pacesetter in there, it can change the tactics of riders and Mindframe took the worst of it," Pletcher said. "(Mindframe) pulled up fine and we'll go over him closely tomorrow."
Ridden by John Velazquez, who won the Pacific Classic with Fierceness, Antiquarian covered the distance in 2:02.16 on a fast track and paid $28. Brant, the Coolmore partners, Westerberg, and Brook Smith's Sierra Leone rallied seven wide in the stretch to take second. Defending race winner Highland Falls, a son of Curlin owned and bred by Godolphin, was moved up to third.
Brown also expressed concern about Ortiz.
"I hope Irad is OK. That's my main concern. Our horse is the one that went over the top of him and my concern is for him," Brown said. "Sierra lost his action there for a moment and you could see Flavien looking around to see what happened. As far as the race goes, we lost a considerable amount of ground,. He had to use him to try and regain where he should have been and it certainly played a role in the finish.
"That's horse racing and it's just unfortunate on a big day, both for my horse, for Mindframe, who was poised for a big effort, and most importantly for Irad, who we just hope can escape from this without any injuries. Flavien said he nearly pulled him up out of the race when he first went over him. He took a couple strides and let him run into the first turn and used him to try and catch up again. It's unfortunate but hopefully the horses and Irad come back healthy."
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