Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) runner-up Gio Ponti will continue racing in 2010, with the $10-million Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) as an early goal.

A candidate for champion turf male, Gio Ponti registered four consecutive Grade 1 victories before switching to Santa Anita Park’s Pro-Ride surface in the Classic for owner Castleton Lyons and trainer Christophe Clement. The four-year-old Tale of the Cat colt finished a length behind Zenyatta at odds of 12-to-1.

“We have decided to race Gio Ponti again next year having completed a stellar campaign with him in 2009, winning four Grade 1 races in a row and beating some of the best colts in the world in the tremendously historic Classic last Saturday at Santa Anita,” Castleton Lyons President Shane Ryan said. “The leading American colt Gio Ponti will eventually become a very worthy addition to the stallion ranks at Castleton Lyons, but in the meantime for all of his fans out there we are thrilled to declare our intentions for 2010 with the Dubai World Cup as an exciting early-season objective.”