The first-ever Belmont Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course will bring together two diverse versions of a racing partnership.
At one end of the spectrum, there’s the new wave MyRacehorse, which campaigns Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Seize the Grey , who will carry the hopes of 2,570 owners into the June 8 1 1/4-mile final leg of the Triple Crown.
Created about four years ago, the venture sold fractional mircoshares of the $300,000 son of Arrogate for $127 in exchange for an expenses-free 0.02% share of the colt.
At the other extreme, there’s the more traditional Centennial Farms, which has stood the test of time for 42 years and brings together a dozen owners who each own a share of Belmont starter Antiquarian that has an actual number instead of a zero in front of the decimal point.
They also own a share of all of the five or six yearlings (generally one bought at Fasig-Tipton’s Saratoga Sale and the rest the Keeneland September Yearling Sale) Centennial purchases each year and bundles in their annual offerings.
“We focus on making this a real ownership experience. Most of the partners are licensed and they own a significant piece of every horse. It’s more of a family or club partnership,” said Don Little Jr., president and co-owner of Centennial, which was founded in 1982 by his late father, Donald Little. “We’re all friends. I talk to each owner individually on a regular basis. We are more expensive than other partnerships but we do it for a reason. Most of the partners are like-minded. They understand the business. You’re not one of a thousand. You are one of 12.”
Don Little Jr.
Stability has been a hallmark of Centennial’s success over the course of the last four decades that features winning or placing in nearly 150 graded stakes, earnings of more than $26 million, and campaigning 14 horses who became stallions.
Aside from the veteran ownership team that also includes Peter Horvitz and Margaret O’Meara, racing manager Dr. Stephen Carr and yearling trainer Paula Parsons have been with Centennial since its early days and played lead roles in the partnership’s most recent activity at the yearling sales.
There are also numerous longtime owners, such as Ed Barker, Tom Carr and Jeff Campbell, who over the years have owned shares of champions and grade 1, classic, and Breeders’ Cup winners like Preservationist , Rubiano, Colonial Affair, Corinthian , and Wicked Strong .
“We’ve been fortunate to keep the same team together for so long. We’ve changed trainers along the way but we have a loyal team in terms of the company and a loyal base of investors,” said Little, an advocate for after-care programs who has $2,000 added into the purchase of each Centennial horse to create a fund to buy back the horse after its racing career and who also keeps a few of the stable’s retired runners on his Massachusetts farm.
Antiquarian, with a victory Saturday, would become the second Centennial 3-year-old to capture the Belmont Stakes.
The first come on a dark, rainy 1993 afternoon at Belmont Park that showcased the inherent levels of triumph and tragedy in Thoroughbred racing. While Jule Krone guided the Scotty Schulhofer-trained Colonial Affair to victory for Centennial and became the first female jockey to win a Triple Crown race, the favorite, Preakness winner Prairie Bayou, broke down and had to be euthanized on the racetrack.
“It was quite a day. For us it was spectacular and Julie has been a great spokesperson for us since then,” said Little, a vice president of the Belmont Child Care Association. “It would be nice to get back into the winner’s circle for a second time and I believe we have a good chance. We’re not going just to be in the race.”
Colonial Affair wins the 1993 Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park
Though Antiquarian is not a homebred, he has regal Centennial bloodlines. Bred by Brereton Jones out of the Istan mare Lifetime Memory, he is from the first crop of the partnership’s grade 1 winner Preservationist and became his sire’s first graded stakes winner when he captured the May 11 Peter Pan Stakes (G3) in his last start.
He was bought for $250,000 from Jones and Airdrie Stud, which stands Preservationist, at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
“He had everything. He has the pedigree out of a young mare. He was a bit of late foal in May but the way he walked and his physical appearance, he looked very athletic. As soon as we started the breaking process, he had the right frame of mind and the athletic prowess that we had seen as a yearling,” Little said. “He was No. 1 on our list of three Preservationist colts and we were fortunate to get him. It was an expensive yearling price based on a $10,000 stud fee (at the time) but he’s been getting pretty decent runners so far.”
Preservationist wins the 2019 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga Race Course
Aside from Antiquarian, Preservationist, winner of the 2019 Woodward Stakes (G1), has produced the 3-year-old filly Band of Gold , who won the Martha Washington Stakes in February for trainer Ken McPeek.
“We campaigned Preservationist and wanted to support him the best we could with his first crop,” Little said. “Dr. Carr and Paula Persons, who have been selecting horses for us since 1986, chose Antiquarian and I guess they chose the right one. I think there’s a nice upside to him and he can be a very significant individual.”
Antiquarian, trained by Todd Pletcher, will be making his fifth career start in the Belmont at the Spa and is coming off the aforementioned victory in the Peter Pan at Aqueduct Racetrack, the same race Colonial Affair finished second in before his Belmont score.
In the 1 1/8-mile Peter Pan, he was third early on and then took charge in the final eighth to post a three-quarters-of-a-length score over the favored The Wine Steward .
“We were very pleased with his effort in the Peter Pan. He was a real pro. Todd was thrilled and the partners were thrilled,” Little said. “He has room for improvement and he’s done that every start except for a backward step in Louisiana, but we used that as a learning experience and the nice thing about him is that he has a good mind and he’s learning and getting better. We’re optimistic.”
While the switch to Saratoga while Belmont Park is under construction led to a shorter 1 1/4-mile distance for Saturday’s classic, the connections would have loved to test Antiquarian at the traditional 1 1/2-mile distance of “The Test of the Champion.”
“Antiquarian came out of the Peter Pan really well,” Pletcher said. “We always felt the added distance would be to his liking.”
Antiquarian trains at Saratoga’s Oklahoma Training Track in preparation for the Belmont Stakes
With a record of two wins and a second from four starts, Antiquarian’s only unplaced effort came in the Louisiana Derby (G2) when he had a legitimate excuse. The chestnut colt broke through the gate before the start, an unfortunate development that usually leads to a subpar effort.
That was surely the case with Antiquarian, who broke flat-footed and was sixth while racing three-to-five wide after a half-mile, then finished sixth, four lengths behind the victorious Catching Freedom .
“Luckily (jockey John Velazquez) had a good hold of him. He finished a good sixth and didn’t get beat by much while earning a decent number (speed figure),” Little said.
He’ll need better racing luck to make his 12 owners ecstatic but with the partnership’s record of a win and two fourths in four Belmont Stakes starts, it’s clear that Centennial’s first Belmont starter in 10 years was not entered on a lark.
“We’re back at it again. You can’t win these big races all the time but at least we’re in them every now and then and more often than not,” Little said.
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