Centennial Farms' Antiquarian earned his first top-level score in the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at Saratoga Race Course Aug. 30. The win secured a "Win and You're In" berth into the grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic Nov. 1 at Del Mar.
Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher felt mixed emotions after the victory as his other entrant, Mindframe, unseated jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. following an incident just after the start where the Kendrick Carmouche-piloted Phileas Fogg prompted a chain reaction of bumping.
READ: Antiquarian Wins Roughly Run Jockey Club Gold Cup
The son of the Centennial Farms-campaigned Preservationist scored by 1 1/2 lengths in a final time of 2:02.16. Pletcher confirmed the 4-year-old chestnut exited the performance in good order.
"He's doing excellent, very good," Pletcher said Sept. 1. "I thought that was a great performance. He is steadily improving. I thought that was his best race to date. He is kind of learning how to polish a race off, so we are very happy for him.
"We'll train up to the Classic," added Pletcher.
Mindframe was collared by the outrider, walked home, and was in good order Monday morning.
"He's excellent, he seems fine," Pletcher said. "We got lucky that he's unscathed. An unlucky race, but lucky that he is OK."
Ortiz Jr. was reported by agent Steve Rushing to have escaped serious injury and all tests came back negative. Ortiz Jr. was cleared to ride, but posted on the social-media platform X this morning that he will not return to riding until Sept. 4 at Kentucky Downs.
Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables' Mindframe already secured a "Win and You're In" berth to the Classic when capturing the Stephen Foster Stakes (G1) at Churchill Downs June 28 by one length over Sierra Leone.
"We are just happy he came out of the race (Sunday) well. We'll regroup and come up with a plan for him," Pletcher said.
Pletcher and Velazquez won the Pacific Classic (G1) at Del Mar Aug. 30 with Fierceness, who veered in early toward the temporary rail but recovered to score by 3 1/4 lengths over a top sophomore in multiple grade 1-winner Journalism, securing a "Win and You're In" berth to the Classic.
"He came back well. He will ship back here (Saratoga) on the third, and we'll point him for the Classic as well," Pletcher said. "To simply overcome the start alone, and that mistake he made there that we felt might leave him with no chance, he recovered to run a big race. We are proud of him."
At this stage, Pletcher has three tickets punched to the Classic, which he won in 2019 with Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables' Vino Rosso .
"We feel good about that now, but it is 60 days away. Hopefully everything stays in order," Pletcher said.
Sierra Leone To Train Up For Breeders' Cup Classic
Peter Brant, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg, and Brook Smith's Sierra Leone finished a deep-closing second under Flavien Prat following a troubled trip in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.
The reigning champion 3-year-old male and winner of last year's Breeders' Cup Classic had to alter course several strides out of the gate in attempting to avoid a fallen Ortiz Jr. Sierra Leone traveled last-of-7 and 18 lengths off the pace before making a wide run down the lane to finish 1 1/2 lengths back of the more prominently positioned Antiquarian.
"Thankfully Irad looks like he escaped anything serious, and our horses came back OK," Brown said Sept. 1. "Sierra Leone went quite wide in the stretch. It was a very challenging trip, but I'm very proud of the horse that he persevered, stayed with it, and still ran a pretty remarkable race. He got his final prep in for the Breeders' Cup Classic, and hopefully he has an uninterrupted, healthy couple months leading up."
Brown said that Sierra Leone will remain in Saratoga for the time being to prepare for his final career start before he moves on to his next career at Coolmore's Ashford Stud.
"He'll stay here for the month of September and then by October I expect him to move down to Belmont and follow the plan I used last year," Brown said. "He's been ultra consistent his entire career, and I'm hopeful he goes out in his last race as he has in all his races: consistent. He shows up every time. He's never been off the board."
The 4-year-old Gun Runner colt has banked in excess of $7 million via a 5-5-3 record from 13 starts.
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
