SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Before there was MyRacehorse, there was Centennial Farms.
Among the pioneers in Thoroughbred partnerships, Centennial Farms has been in operation more than four decades and campaigned such notable horses as champion sprinter Rubiano, Belmont Stakes winner Colonial Affair, Breeders’ Cup winner Corinthian, and graded stakes winners Wicked Strong, King Cugat, Unified, and Preservationist.
Saturday, 31 years after Colonial Affair won the Belmont and 10 years after Wicked Strong finished in a dead heat for fourth, Centennial is back in the $2 million Belmont Stakes with Antiquarian – a son of Preservationist – who might deem a stronger chance than his 12-1 morning-line odds suggest.
Centennial is an outfit started by Don Little Sr., whose first ventures in the equine world were in foxhunting and show jumping. Ultimately, Little, with the backing of lifelong friends Tony Woodruff and Judson Streicher, started Centennial Farms with the goal of sharing a passion for horses and winning races at the sport’s highest levels.
Little died in 2012 as the result of injuries suffered in a show jumping accident at an Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Fla. Don Little Jr., a professional polo player, had previously taken over as president of Centennial during the late 1990s.
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Centennial is smaller than it was in the 1980s. Little said back then, Centennial had 300 clients when tax laws were different and financial losses were more easily written off. Little said there are now approximately 50 individuals involved with Centennial, which has about 14 horses in training. Each horse has approximately 12 partners, with many individuals involved in more than one horse.
“We never do less than 5 [percent], most people take 10 and typically people come with a $50,000 investment,” Little said. “That covers expenses through their 2-year-old year and Centennial Farms itself is an equity investor in all the horses.
“Our theory is this is an experience for all owners, and to make it as best of an experience as you can is so important,” Little added. “Yes, we’re more expensive than most, but you have more access. Most of my partners are all licensed, some of them have their own boxes, people are here to watch the breezes on a regular basis and we’re more of a guide now than anything else, an educator.”
Centennial has a farm in Middleburg, Va., where most of the horses go through a program devised by Dr. Stephen Carr and trainer Paula Parsons.
“We have a specific training regimen that we go through every year and all the best ones have been through it,” Little said.
In the Belmont, Antiquarian will be going up against Preakness winner Seize the Grey, which is owned by MyRacehorse, a partnership that sells microshares in horses for minimal cost. In Seize the Grey, there are 2,570 partners, and 5,000 shares were sold in the horse for a cost of $127 per share.
Though it’s a different model than Centennial uses, Little applauds what MyRacehorse is doing.
“It’s great. This business needs as many people getting into the business as they can,” he said. “Everybody says ‘Are we going to make it, are we going to survive?’ We’ll survive. I think this sport is one of the greatest sports in the world, the history is there and it’ll continue but we need to educate people.”
One characteristic Little believes all owners need to learn about is patience. Preservationist and Antiquarian, Little believes, are examples of how well things can turn out when patience is exercised.
Battling through injuries and infirmities, Preservationist, trained by Jimmy Jerkens, made only 11 starts but won the Grade 1 Woodward at Saratoga in 2019 after capturing the Grade 2 Suburban at Belmont Park earlier that summer. Preservationist stands at Airdrie Stud.
“Credit to Airdrie and seeing the breeding [potential] in Preservationist and the time we took to get him to where he got to – a Grade 1 winner,” Little said. “And they breed a very good horse. They do it the right way in our opinion. We do have quite a few people who were in Preservationist who were in this horse because they get it.”
Antiquarian, who brought $250,000 as a yearling, was sent from Centennial’s farm in Virginia to trainer Todd Pletcher in Saratoga last summer. After being here a week, the decision was made to send him back home.
“He was so big and rangy, we said let’s pull the plug now and gave him another two months off and he came back a bear and a more educated, well-schooled animal,” Little said.
After finishing second in his debut at Gulfstream Park in January, Antiquarian went to Fair Grounds for his next start where he won a 1 1/16-mile maiden race by one length in the slop. That earned him a return trip to Fair Grounds for the Louisiana Derby, where he broke through the starting gate prior to the official start of the race. He was reloaded and ran decently until midstretch when he flattened out and finished sixth, beaten four lengths.
Seven weeks later, on May 11, Antiquarian had his breakthrough race, winning the Peter Pan, a race in which he sat a stalking third and came with a steady close under John Velazquez.
“He has that progression that you like to see,” Little said. “It’s not a big jump, it’s not a freakish effort, it’s a nice improvement in each step he’s taken. To get horses like this, it’s a rare occasion with a stable of 10 at most every year.”
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Pletcher actually trained for the first racing partnership, Dogwood Stables, and also trains some for MyRacehorse. Pletcher said he’s enjoyed the old-school approach Centennial employs.
“They’re patient, they allow you to bring horses along at the pace that they’re ready at,” Pletcher said. “We’ve had a little bit of good luck, hopefully we can take it up another level.”
Colonial Affair, trained by Scotty Schulhofer, came out of a second-place finish in the Peter Pan to win the Belmont in 1993, and last year Arcangelo, trained by Jena Antonucci, won the Peter Pan and the Belmont.
Unlike those horses, Antiquarian will have to face the Kentucky Derby winner (Mystik Dan) and Preakness winner (Seize the Grey).
“Do I feel like we’re stretching it? No. We belong here,” Little said.
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