Diversify to skip Breeders' Cup Classic

Diversify, the Grade 1 Whitney winner who finished fifth in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, will not run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, owner Ralph Evans said Thursday night.

Evans said a number of factors went into the decision including the health of trainer Rick Violette, who has been hospitalized for the past few weeks with an illness, Diversify’s poor performance in the Gold Cup and the horse’s previous poor experience at Churchill Downs.

“The fact Rick was not going to make it back in time to train him was probably the primary reason,” Evans said. “Also, he had a tough race in the Gold Cup and was not 100 percent. Churchill was not kind to the horse the last time.”

Last year, Diversify won the Jockey Club Gold Cup but passed the Breeders’ Cup Classic and instead ran in the Grade 1 Clark at Churchill, where he finished fourth. Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. said Diversify didn’t seem to handle the Churchill surface.

Evans said Diversify “will get a little bit of rest” and perhaps be pointed to the $9 million Pegasus World Cup next January at Gulfstream Park.

Prior to the Gold Cup, Diversify had won three straight races beginning with the Commentator Stakes for New York-breds and then powerful victories in both the Grade 2 Suburban and Grade 1 Whitney, the latter being a Win and You’re In race for the Classic.