Tonalist, Zivo likely to meet again in Breeders' Cup Classic
ELMONT, N.Y. - Tonalist and Zivo, the first two finishers from Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup, will both be pointed to the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, but will both do all their major preparations in New York before shipping to Southern California the week of the race, their trainers said Sunday morning.
Moreno, who crossed the finish line fourth but was disqualified to last when jockey Junior Alvarado allowed the gelding to drift over, thus causing Wicked Strong to clip heels, stumble, and unseat his rider, is also being pointed to the Classic. He was flown to Southern California on Sunday morning.
Christophe Clement, the trainer of Tonalist, said the horse came out of his Gold Cup victory “a little bit stiff, but not bad, and overall [I’m] very happy with the way he looks.”
The ever-conservative Clement said he would wait a week to 10 days before committing Tonalist to the Classic, but added, “subject to his well-being we will keep the Breeders’ Cup Classic very much in mind.” Tonalist added the Jockey Club Gold Cup to a resume that includes the Belmont Stakes and Peter Pan, all at Belmont Park.
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After Tonalist finished second in the Jim Dandy and third in the Travers this summer at Saratoga, Clement took the blinkers off Tonalist for the Gold Cup. While Clement admitted the horse was farther back than he expected Saturday - Tonalist was 10th of 11 runners early on - he was fine with the result.
“The main thing is he’s a very nice horse, he won a classic with the blinkers so it’s not like it was a major, major move,” Clement said. “I just thought he was more aggressive with the blinkers than he was yesterday. Obviously, he was further back in the race, maybe more further back than we were expecting but obviously Joel [Rosario] was very comfortable and he won the race.”
Tonalist, who defeated Zivo by 1 3/4 lengths, earned a career-best 106 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.
Clement said he could get as many as three works into Tonalist before the Classic.
Chad Brown, the trainer of Gold Cup runner-up Zivo, was proud of his horse’s second-place effort after he had to steady behind the fallen Wicked Strong down the backstretch.
“Second-best yesterday, but it was a good second, especially considering the trouble he had down the backside as did a handful of other horses,” Brown said. “For him to restart his race again at that point and still run on strong and run a solid second, I couldn’t be prouder of the horse’s effort.”
Brown said Sunday that Zivo “looks great this morning” and if all goes well for the next few weeks, he too will be aimed to the Classic.
“If the horse comes out of the race sound and is training as well as he was leading up to the Jockey Club I don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t go out there and take a shot in the Classic,” Brown said.
Brown said he would keep Zivo in New York as late as possible because of how well the horse trains at Belmont Park.
Eric Guillot, the trainer of Moreno, felt his horse had “a horrible trip” in the Gold Cup and is still on course for the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He did say that he would replace Alvarado.