Jerkens braves the pain to watch Preservationist work for Gold Cup

ELMONT, N.Y. – Jimmy Jerkens has the type of horses in his barn that make a trainer want to wake up in the morning and go to work.

Even a trainer who just had hip replacement surgery.

On Wednesday morning, less than 48 hours after having his right hip replaced, Jerkens was leaning against the rail on the Belmont Park training track as he watched two of his stable stars put in workouts.

Shortly after 8 a.m., Preservationist blew out three furlongs in 36.06 seconds in preparation for Saturday’s Grade 1, $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup. About 90 minutes later, Green Light Go worked seven furlongs in 1:27.28 for a scheduled start in the Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne Stakes here on Oct. 5.

Preservationist was one of just five horses entered Wednesday for Saturday’s Gold Cup, a 1 1/4-mile race that offers a fees-paid berth into the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 2.

The sight of those horses breezing brought comfort to Jerkens, who with assistance from a cane and his wife, Shirley, trudged up and down a set of stairs located at the eighth pole of the training track.

“Lot of pain,” Jerkens said when asked how he was feeling. “I was told it was going to be and it is. Getting in and out of the car, getting out of bed is really hard.”

A degenerative hip injury suffered during his polo playing days is what led the 60-year-old Jerkens to undergo surgery. He said he scheduled it well before he knew that he’d have horses running in the Jockey Club Gold Cup and Champagne.

“I wanted to be on my way to recovery before I headed to Florida [this winter],” Jerkens said. “I was just getting tired of working at the barn in such pain, so I decided to do it.”

While Jerkens may be moving around slowly, Preservationist was moving rapidly during his three-furlong blowout under Kelvin Pahal. While the move may have been a little faster than Jerkens was looking for, it simply confirms how well Preservationist has done since his victory in the Grade 1 Woodward at Saratoga.

“Real good, he looks great,” Jerkens said. “He’s been training right along, holding his flesh, holding his color, keeping pretty composed, eating good.”

The Jockey Club Gold Cup field, in post order: Tacitus, Code of Honor, Vino Rosso, Preservationist, Olympic Village.