Tonalist getting downtime before 2015 campaign

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Tonalist, the Belmont Stakes and Jockey Club Gold Cup winner who finished fifth in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, arrived in Payson Park in Florida on Wednesday. Tonalist will get a break before preparing for a 4-year-old campaign that could include a start in the $10 million Dubai World Cup.

Trainer Christophe Clement said he will discuss all possibilities with owner Ralph Evans but mentioned as possible starts for Tonalist the Grade 1, $500,000 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 7 and the Dubai World Cup over what is now a dirt surface at Meydan on March 28.

“The idea is to give him a 4-year-old campaign. I just don’t know exactly where we come back,” Clement said Wednesday at Belmont Park. “The Donn Handicap/World Cup is a possibility. He needs a break; he ran all year. We’ll let the horse tell us where we are.”

Overlooked in the controversy regarding the start of the Breeders’ Cup Classic was the performance of Tonalist, who rallied from nearly 17 lengths back to finish fifth, five lengths behind the front-running winner, Bayern.

“I thought the horse ran a nice race,” Clement said. “But he was asked an impossible task of having so much to do.”

In addition to the Belmont and Jockey Club Gold Cup, Tonalist won the Grade 2 Peter Pan. He also finished second in the Jim Dandy and third in the Travers.

Meanwhile, Clement said that Summer Front, fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, will be pointed to the Grade 2, $250,000 Seabiscuit Handicap at Del Mar on Nov. 28. Irish Mission, last in the Filly and Mare Turf, will be trained toward a start in the La Prevoyante at Gulfstream Park West in late December, he said. Both horses shipped to Florida on Wednesday.