Dirt Mile winner Goldencents well; Centralinteligence scheduled for surgery

Goldencents wrapped up his sophomore campaign with a win in in the BC Dirt (Cecilia Gustavsson/Horsephotos.com)

Trainer
Doug O’Neill was still on cloud nine Saturday morning following a scintillating
victory by Goldencents in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Friday.

“He came out of it great,” O’Neill said. “What a horse.
He’s a true champion. It doesn’t matter what distance you throw at him, he’ll
show up and run a top race.”

O’Neill said he received a text from University of
Louisville Hall of Fame basketball coach Rick Pitino, a minority owner of the
three-year-old colt, after the race.

“He was real excited. He was happy and congratulated
everybody. He was all pumped up.”

O’Neill indicated Goldencents probably would make his next
start in the Malibu Stakes for sophomores going seven furlongs at Santa Anita on December 26.

Assistant Leandro Mora also was elated with the performance
of Goldencents and was grateful that he returned in top order.

“We have a
healthy horse this morning; he cleaned up,” Mora said.

Centralinteligence, seen here after taking the Triple Bend, will undergo surgery for a condylar fracture suffered in the Dirt Mile (Cecilia Gustavsson/Horsephotos.com)

“To be honest, when I saw
those fractions early I thought ‘We’re cooked. We’re done,'” he admitted. “Then I started
screaming for him to hold on. I was impressed how well he did. He was super.”

While Goldencents was doing well the morning after his victory,
Centralinteligence is scheduled for surgery following his run in the race.

Alfredo Morfin, foreman for trainer Ron Ellis, reported that
Centralinteligence, who was pulled up and vanned off after the Dirt Mile,
would be transported from his stall Saturday to undergo surgery on his injured
right foreleg.

“He’s got a cast on, but he will be OK,” Morfin said of the
five-year-old gelding, scheduled to be operated on Sunday by veterinarian Wayne McIlwraith
at a clinic in Chino.