Catholic Boy, a Grade 1 winner on both turf and dirt who finished next-to-last in Saturday’s $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, will remain in training and run as a 4-year-old, trainer Jonathan Thomas said Sunday morning.

“I think he has a great chance of being a very, very good horse next year,” Thomas said.

Catholic Boy is owned by Robert LaPenta, Sol Kumin's Madaket Stables, Twin Creeks Racing and Sienna Farm.

Thomas said Catholic Boy would be vanned to Bridlewood Farm in Ocala, Fla, for a freshening and he would not be considered for either of the two rich Pegasus World Cup races run at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 26.

“While we respect the races if we’re going to give him a proper freshening with the idea of pointing to the races at Belmont and Saratoga it probably makes sense not to participate,” Thomas said.

Thomas said it is likely Catholic Boy would run on both turf and dirt next year. One race Thomas said he wants to make is the Grade 1 Whitney held at Saratoga, typically the first weekend in August.

Thomas said Catholic Boy came out of the Classic with a gash on his left front ankle, a result of being squeezed soon after the start.

“We were done the first three steps outs out of the gate,” Thomas said. “We wanted to establish more of a forward position and breaking a step slow and then having Gunnevera come down made getting that spot a little hard.”

Thomas commended jockey Javier Castellano for “taking good care of him when he realized he wasn’t going to be in contention.”

As a 3-year-old, Catholic Boy won the Grade 1 Belmont Derby and Grade 3 Pennine Ridge on turf as well as the Grade 1 Travers on dirt.

“Seriously proud of the year he put together,” Thomas said. “It’s hard to be disappointed.”