The primary-ever Belmont Stakes Offered by NYRA Bets at Saratoga Race Course will carry collectively two various variations of a racing partnership.
At one finish of the spectrum, there’s new-wave MyRacehorse, which campaigns Preakness Stakes winner Seize the Gray, who will carry the hopes of two,570 house owners into the June 8, 1 1/4-mile last leg of the Triple Crown.
Created in 2018, the enterprise bought fractional microshares of the $300,000 son of Arrogate for $127 in alternate for an expenses-free 0.02% share of the colt.
On the different excessive, there’s the extra conventional Centennial Farms, which has stood the check of time for 42 years and brings collectively a dozen house owners who every personal a share of Belmont starter Antiquarian that has a quantity aside from a zero in entrance of the decimal level.
In addition they personal a share of the entire 5 – 6 yearlings — usually one purchased at Fasig-Tipton’s Saratoga Sale and the remaining the Keeneland September yearling sale — Centennial purchases annually and bundles of their annual choices.
“We deal with making this an actual possession expertise. Many of the companions are licensed they usually personal a big piece of each horse. It’s extra of a household or membership partnership,” stated Don Little Jr., president and co-owner of Centennial, which was based in 1982 by his late father, Donald Little. “We’re all buddies. I speak to every proprietor individually regularly. We’re costlier than different partnerships however we do it for a cause. Many of the companions are like-minded. They perceive the enterprise. You’re not considered one of a thousand. You might be considered one of 12.”
Stability has been an indicator of Centennial’s success over the course of the final 4 a long time that options successful or inserting in almost 150 graded stakes, earnings of greater than $26 million, and campaigning 14 horses who turned stallions.
Other than the veteran possession staff that additionally contains Peter Horvitz and Margaret O’Meara, racing supervisor Dr. Stephen Carr and yearling coach Paula Parsons have been with Centennial since its early days and performed lead roles within the partnership’s most up-to-date exercise on the yearling gross sales.
There are additionally quite a few longtime house owners, reminiscent of Ed Barker, Tom Carr, and Jeff Campbell, who over time have owned shares of champions and Grade 1, traditional, and Breeders’ Cup winners like Preservationist, Rubiano, Colonial Affair, Corinthian, and Depraved Sturdy.
“We’ve been lucky to maintain the identical staff collectively for therefore lengthy. We’ve modified trainers alongside the way in which however now we have a loyal staff when it comes to the corporate and a loyal base of buyers,” stated Little, an advocate for aftercare packages who has $2,000 added into the acquisition of every Centennial horse to create a fund to purchase again the horse after its racing profession and who additionally retains just a few of the steady’s retired runners on his Massachusetts farm.
Antiquarian, with a victory Saturday, would turn into the second Centennial 3-year-old to seize the Belmont Stakes.
The primary got here on a darkish, wet 1993 afternoon at Belmont Park when Julie Krone guided the Scotty Schulhofer-trained Colonial Affair to victory for Centennial and have become the primary feminine jockey to win a Triple Crown race.
“It was fairly a day,” stated Little, a vp of the Belmont Baby Care Affiliation. “Julie has been an important spokesperson for us since then. It could be good to get again into the winner’s circle for a second time and I consider now we have a very good likelihood. We’re not going simply to be within the race.”
Although Antiquarian isn’t a homebred, he has regal Centennial bloodlines. Bred by the late Brereton Jones out of the Istan mare Lifetime Reminiscence, he’s from the primary crop of the partnership’s Grade 1 winner Preservationist and have become his sire’s first graded stakes winner when he captured the Might 11 Peter Pan Stakes in his most up-to-date begin.
He was purchased for $250,000 from Jones and Airdrie Stud, which stands Preservationist, on the 2022 Keeneland September yearling sale.
“He had all the pieces. He has the pedigree out of a younger mare. He was a little bit of late foal in Might however the way in which he walked and his bodily look, he appeared very athletic. As quickly as we began the breaking course of, he had the precise mind set and the athletic prowess that we had seen as a yearling,” Little stated. “He was No. 1 on our checklist of three Preservationist colts and we had been lucky to get him. It was an costly yearling worth based mostly on a $10,000 stud price (on the time), however he’s been getting fairly first rate runners up to now.”
Other than Antiquarian, Preservationist, winner of the 2019 Woodward Stakes, has produced the 3-year-old filly Band of Gold, who received the Martha Washington Stakes in February for coach Ken McPeek.
“We campaigned Preservationist and needed to assist him one of the best we may together with his first crop,” Little stated. “Dr. Carr and Paula Parsons, who’ve been deciding on horses for us since 1986, selected Antiquarian and I assume they selected the precise one. I believe there’s a pleasant upside to him and he generally is a very important particular person.”
Antiquarian, skilled by Todd Pletcher, will probably be making his fifth profession begin within the Belmont Stakes on the Spa and is coming off the aforementioned victory within the Peter Pan Stakes at Aqueduct, the identical race Colonial Affair completed second in earlier than his Belmont rating.
Within the 1 1/8-mile Peter Pan, Antiquarian was third early on after which took cost within the last eighth of a mile to publish a three-quarters-of-a-length rating over favored The Wine Steward.
“We had been more than happy together with his effort within the Peter Pan. He was an actual professional. Todd was thrilled and the companions had been thrilled,” Little stated. “He has room for enchancment and he’s executed that each begin aside from a backward step in Louisiana, however we used that as a studying expertise and the good factor about him is that he has a very good thoughts and he’s studying and getting higher. We’re optimistic.”
Whereas the change to Saratoga whereas Belmont Park is below development led to a shorter 1 1/4-mile distance for Saturday’s traditional, the connections would have cherished to check Antiquarian on the conventional 1 1/2-mile distance of the “Check of the Champion.”
“Antiquarian got here out of the Peter Pan very well,” Pletcher stated. “We all the time felt the added distance can be to his liking.”
With a file of two wins and a second from 4 begins, Antiquarian’s solely unplaced effort got here within the Louisiana Derby when he had a respectable excuse. The chestnut colt broke by means of the gate earlier than the beginning, an unlucky growth that often results in a subpar effort.
That was absolutely the case with Antiquarian, who broke flat-footed and was sixth whereas racing 3-to-5 paths broad after a half-mile, then completed sixth, 4 lengths behind the victorious Catching Freedom .
“Fortunately [jockey John Velazquez] had a very good maintain of him. He completed a very good sixth and didn’t get beat by a lot whereas incomes a good quantity [speed figure],” Little stated.
He’ll want higher racing luck to make his 12 house owners ecstatic however with the partnership’s file of a win and two fourths in 4 Belmont Stakes begins, it’s clear that Centennial’s first Belmont starter in 10 years was not entered on a lark.
“We’re again at it once more. You’ll be able to’t win these large races on a regular basis however not less than we’re in them once in a while,” Little stated.
