Chunk of Gold (Preservationist), who hammered for the bargain price of $2,500 as a FTKOCT yearling, is an easy horse to root for. On Saturday, the overachieving gray edged his lifetime earnings over the million-dollar mark with a runner-up finish in the GII Lukas Classic Stakes at Churchill Downs.Those earnings of $1,051,511 over a 13-3-8-1 race record represent 420 times what Chris Melton paid when he selected the colt out of an Airdrie Stud consignment three years ago.“I'm thrilled with Chunk. I'll never be disappointed in him. He owes us absolutely nothing,” trainer Ethan West said after the 4-year-old established a blistering pace but did not quit, persevering to hold second behind 3 1/4-length winner Dragoon Guard (Arrogate), who also earned millionaire status Sept. 26.Current owner Terry Stephens initially bought in for a half-share. Then, after Chunk of Gold broke his maiden on Dec. 19, 2024, in a maiden special weight at Turfway Park restricted to horses who had sold or RNA'd for $50,000 or less, he acquired full ownership.Although Chunk of Gold–a May 11 foal–initially seemed immature, by age three he had emerged as one of the more intelligent and composed horses in West's Kentucky-based stable.Chunk of Gold parlayed his maiden win into three consecutive second-place finishes in stakes in the winter/spring of 2025, rallying from off the pace in the one-mile Leonatus Stakes, the nine-furlong GII Risen Star Stakes and 1 3/16-mile GII Louisiana Derby.Even though he had never won beyond six furlongs or on the dirt, Chunk of Gold racked up enough qualifying points to earn a berth in last year's GI Kentucky Derby. He went off at 29-1, had his heels clipped from behind shortly after the start, and finished ninth in the slop behind Sovereignty (Into Mischief).Chunk of Gold was then second in the GIII Ohio Derby as the beaten 6-5 favorite, prompting West to add blinkers for the colt's next start in the GIII West Virginia Derby.The result was a newfound turn of early foot, a 4 1/4-length wiring of the field, and a then-best 97 Beyer Speed Figure.Pressing the pace, Chunk of Gold then ran second in the Bourbon Flight Stakes at Churchill, wired an allowance/optional claimer at Keeneland, and was loose on the lead in the GIII Clark Stakes before getting reeled in and finishing third, beaten half a length.After a seven-month layoff, Chunk of Gold was second in a June 28, 2026 allowance/optional claimer at Churchill. An Aug. 15 trip to Monmouth for the GIII Iselin Stakes yielded another second-place finish, behind Bishops Bay (Uncle Mo). That 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' was also in action Saturday at Churchill, coming out of the Iselin to take the GIII Ack Ack Stakes.Chunk of Gold was entered in but withdrawn from the Sept. 18 GI Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park because of “logistical issues” related to getting there, West had said at the time of the scratch.The colt went in the Lukas Classic instead, and the stretch run ended up featuring the winners of the past two West Virginia Derbies, with neither Dragoon Guard (3.47-1 odds) nor Chunk of Gold (2.60-1) having won any other stakes in the interim.Jockey Jaime Torres, aboard for the second consecutive start, was intent on making the lead from the outermost five post, with Banishing (Ghostzapper) denying him both the top spot and a ground-saving position at the fence.“That horse on the inside of him, he wasn't going to go away into that first turn,” West said in a post-race video interview posted by the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association.The riders of both frontrunners attempted to dial down the tempo on the backstretch, and Chunk of Gold was able to crack Banishing before the entrance to the far turn.But he had to immediately brace for the challenge of the advancing Dragoon Guard.Although Chunk of Gold stubbornly wouldn't let Dragoon Guard get by between the five-sixteenths and quarter poles, he was spent by upper stretch and had no spark left to stay with the shifting and drifting Dragoon Guard, who was opening up while wandering late in the lane.Chunk of Gold did have enough oomph left to hold off the third-place foe, This Is Uscar (Oscar Performance), by a length.Dragoon Guard got a 107 Beyer for the 1:48.35 win, while Chunk of Gold was assigned 101 (four points below his career-best 105 in the Iselin).“We put up [opening fractions of :22.59 and :46.64] going a mile and an eighth, and Jaime said the track's pretty deep today. So, you can't fault this horse at all. [Jaime] said he ran his ass off and got beat by a nice horse, [and] he never quit on us,” West said.No next start was confirmed for the bargain buy of the 2022 foal crop. But West did say that he might have to consider some tactical tweak that will allow Chunk of Gold to find the style that suits him best after starting his career as a confirmed closer and then switching to being all-out on the lead.“We put the blinkers on him to get him forward. Now it looks like we've got to do something to kind of find him a happy medium,” West said. went on the offensive! The @JuddmonteFarms homebred powered away from the field to win the 13th Lukas Classic G2 @ChurchillDowns.That's 6 wins today for @Tyler_Gaff & back-to-back stakes wins for @bradcoxracing! #TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/2ZGxHcaTDZ— TwinSpires Racing (@TwinSpires) September 26, 2026The post Week in Review: $2,500 Bargain Yearling Now Grinding Away at His Next Million in Earnings appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.