Thomas pleased with Catholic Boy's work for BC Classic

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Jonathan Thomas wanted to see how Catholic Boy handles the Churchill Downs surface and give him a stamina-enhancing work two weeks out from the Breeders' Cup Classic, and it was thumbs up all around after the Travers winner breezed an easy five furlongs in 1:02.41 under the lights early Sunday morning.

After joining the 5,000-win club Saturday at Belmont Park, Javier Castellano hopped a plane and flew to Louisville that evening to be on hand when the racetrack opened for training at 5:30 a.m. to guide Catholic Boy through the important work.

Catholic Boy cruised a very easy opening three-eighths in 13.31 seconds, 26.23, and 38.36 before finishing with nice energy once settling into the stretch, doing so without urging before punctuating the move with a terrific gallop-out, six furlongs in 1:15.23, seven-eighths in 1:28, and up a mile in 1:42.20.

Thomas was all smiles immediately afterward, having watched the work from the clocker's stand on the fourth floor of the Churchill Downs clubhouse.

"I felt two weeks out, we wanted him to get a good feel for the racetrack, break off kindly, then pick up the work incrementally, and I thought he came home really well to the wire and then showed a lot of energy galloping out,” said Thomas. "I liked the fact that he galloped out so strongly and it still took [Castellano] a little time to finally get him pulled up down the backside. It looked like he was moving well.

“Historically, he's handled every surface we've thrown at him, and we're hoping this won't be different, but we wanted to get him here early and let him breeze twice here so he could get the opportunity to learn it himself, and this was very good this morning."

Thomas said the work differed slightly from Catholic Boy’s final, equally impressive drill prior to his runaway victory in the Grade 1 Travers nearly two months ago at Saratoga.

“He had two really hard races, gritty efforts, on the grass going into the Travers, so we weren’t looking for as much going into the race, as we are here with him having been away since then,” said Thomas. “So, we wanted something more stamina-laden today, and this showed us he’s obviously a very fit horse.”

Thomas said he'd likely bring Catholic Boy back for an easy half-mile breeze under the twin spires next Sunday.

Catholic Boy was among four potential Breeders’ Cup starters to work on a clear but very cold morning at Churchill Downs, where the temperature was in the mid- to high 30s for much of the session.

He was followed by Tight Ten (Juvenile), five furlongs in company in a swift 59.55 for trainer Steve Asmussen; Channel Maker (Turf), an easy half-mile in company in 49.20; and Toast of New York (Classic), four furlongs in 53.60.

Castellano also breezed Trophy Chaser five furlongs in 1:01.26. Trophy Chaser could be pre-entered in the Juvenile, although is most likely to run in the Street Sense Stakes here instead.

– additional reporting by David Grening