Breeders' Cup Classic: After a decade away, Centennial returns with Antiquarian
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Forty years after running its first horse in a Breeders’ Cup race and 10 years after running its most recent, Centennial Farms will be back with a contender in the championship event when Antiquarian starts in the $7 million Classic on Nov. 1 at Del Mar.
Centennial is one of the pioneers in racing partnerships dating back to 1982, when Donald Little Sr. began the venture. Now run by his son, Don Little Jr., Centennial has a long history of success in the industry. It has won a Belmont Stakes (Colonial Affair), campaigned a champion (the sprinter Rubiano), and won a Breeders’ Cup race (2007 Dirt Mile with Corinthian).
Antiquarian is a son of Preservationist, who won the Grade 1 Woodward for Centennial in the summer of 2019. Known to support its horses who become stallions, Centennial purchased Antiquarian for $250,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September yearling auction.
Antiquarian is the prototypical Centennial horse in that he didn’t debut until his 3-year-old year, was given time off when needed, and improved as he got older. Antiquarian will come into the Breeders’ Cup Classic off a 1 1/2-length victory over defending BC Classic winner Sierra Leone in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup on Aug. 31 at Saratoga.
The Jockey Club Gold Cup was a messy race, with a bumping incident early taking out a main contender in Mindframe, who lost his rider a few strides out of the gate. The presence of a pacemaker in the race also led to horses like Antiquarian being further off the pace than is typical, but he still was a good-looking winner.
“It’s unfortunate what happened. Thank God everybody’s fine,” Don Little Jr. said. “I still believe that, despite the incident, the result would have been similar. He was training exceptionally well to that point.”
Following a 3-year-old campaign in which he won 2 of 5 starts, including the Grade 3 Peter Pan, Antiquarian finished fifth in the Belmont Stakes and was given the remainder of the year off due to bone bruising. He returned to the races in April with an allowance win at Gulfstream Park. That led to a second-place finish behind 2024 Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan in the Grade 3 Blame Stakes and a head loss to Phileas Fogg in the Suburban. Then came his Jockey Club Gold Cup victory.
Little said he likens Antiquarian’s trajectory to that of Vino Rosso, whom Pletcher won the Classic with in 2019 for owner Mike Repole. Vino Rosso won the Grade 2 Wood Memorial at 3, and after competing in two legs of the Triple Crown, the Jim Dandy, and Travers, he was given time off. At 4, Vino Rosso came with several significant wins – and he was disqualified from first in the Jockey Club Gold – before winning the Classic.
“I told Todd this is his Vino Rosso,” said Little, who plans to race Antiquarian in 2026 as a 5-year-old. “You look at how he managed Vino Rosso during his campaign, it’s very similar. This horse has responded exceptionally well, and with the increased competition, he’s been right there. His numbers show it.”
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Though John Velazquez has ridden Antiquarian in eight of his nine starts, Little expects Velazquez to ride Fierceness – last year’s Classic runner-up – for Pletcher and Repole in this year’s Classic. As of Wednesday, a rider for Antiquarian had not been finalized. Antiquarian could be one of four horses Pletcher runs in the Classic, along with Fierceness, Mindframe, and possibly Locked.
Centennial ran its first horse in the Breeders’ Cup in 1985 when Silent Account finished ninth in the Juvenile Fillies. Rubiano finished third in the 1992 Sprint, and Colonial Affair was last in the 1993 Classic. Colonial Affair came back to have a terrific 4-year-old season and would have been the favorite for the 1994 Classic before he kicked a stall and injured a hind leg a week before the race.
Signal Tap and King Cugat finished 11th in their respective Breeders’ Cup races in 1995 and 2000. In 2007, over a significantly sloppy Monmouth Park track, Corinthian, trained by Jimmy Jerkens, dominated the inaugural Dirt Mile by 6 1/2 lengths.
“Jimmy breezed him the length of the stretch the morning of the race just to double check” that he’d handle an off track, Little said. “He moved over it like it was nothing, and we all just looked at each other with a big smile on our faces.”
Wicked Strong was Centennial’s seventh and most recent Breeders’ Cup starter, finishing fourth in the 2015 Dirt Mile. Centennial chose that race over the Classic, which featured American Pharoah. There may be no Triple Crown winner in this year’s Classic field, but with at least 10 – and potentially 12 – Grade 1 winners expected, it is arguably the deepest.
“This is a big deal,” Little said. “You can argue any horse in this race is a candidate for Horse of the Year because every single one has won a Grade 1 before it. Because of the competition, it’ll be a fascinating race. It’s an honor to be in it.”
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