Jockey Club Gold Cup next up for Preservationist

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Preservationist, game winner of Saturday’s Grade 1, $750,000 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga, was scheduled on Tuesday to ship back to his downstate base of Belmont Park where his connections hope to start him in the Grade 1, $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup on Sept. 28.

As for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, well, while it hasn’t been totally ruled out, it doesn’t seem a high priority for Donald Little Jr., president of Centennial Farms, owners of Preservationist.

Noting that the Breeders’ Cup will be held at Santa Anita in Southern California on Nov. 1-2, Little said, “I’ve seen horses ship East to West and not do that well. You could skip the Breeders’ Cup and go Jockey Club-Pegasus and call it a day.”

Preservationist, trained by Jimmy Jerkens, is 6 years old and Little doesn’t plan on giving him a full campaign in 2020. The $9 million Pegasus Invitational is run on Jan. 25 at Gulfstream Park.

The Jockey Club Gold Cup would be Preservationist’s fourth race in two months. He won the Grade 2 Suburban at Belmont on July 6 and finished fourth in the Grade 1 Whitney on Aug. 3 before winning Saturday’s Woodward by a half-length over Bal Harbour.

“If he’s 100 percent and not too wound up, I think you would definitely look at it,” Little said of the Gold Cup. “He definitely fits. It’s home, you’re running out of your own stall.”

The Jockey Club Gold Cup is expected to attract Travers winner Code of Honor and Grade 1 winner Vino Rosso, who was scratched from the Woodward to point to the Gold Cup.

In the Woodward, Preservationist was able to spilt horses in deep stretch under Junior Alvarado and outfinish Bal Harbour to the wire. He covered 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.11 and earned a 106 Beyer Speed Figure.

“That was a real gutsy performance,” Little said. “I haven’t seen that in person in a long time. He bulled his way through there.”

Little said Preservationist on Sunday morning “is fine, he looks good, no worse for wear.”

Preservationist’s victory in the Woodward was particularly gratifying to Little and his owners because they had so many stops and starts with the horse, who suffered through several minor issues throughout his career.

“It was a special moment for everybody that’s touched this horse,” Little said.