Trainer Christophe Clement was delighted to see an old friend earlier this month. It was a gray, soggy day at Belmont Park, but that could not dampen Clement's spirits as, for a second year in a row, he stood beaming in the winner's circle alongside Tonalist after the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup.

After a frustrating period in which Tonalist ran well but not well enough to win some of the summer's biggest races, a streak of three straight losses came screeching to a halt with a strong performance that was a reminder of why the 4-year-old entered 2015 as one of the year's top horses. Last year's Belmont Stakes and JCGC winner took charge in the stretch and pulled away to a decisive 4¾-length win on a sloppy track.

"People forgot about him," Clement said, "but I didn't forget about him."

This weekend, Clement hopes Tonalist will reintroduce himself on one of the sport's biggest stages when he takes on American Pharoah, Beholder and Honor Code, just to name a few, in Saturday's $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland Racecourse.

It's a supreme challenge for any horse, but on his best day Tonalist has showed that he can run with the best horses in the nation. Beating them is a different story, especially away from Belmont Park.

For all of the talent in Tonalist, he has been one of racing's biggest riddles. A Superman at Belmont Park, where he has notched all five of his stakes wins, he has been Clark Kent at tracks like Saratoga, where he was third in the Travers and second in the Jim Dandy, and Santa Anita, where he was fifth in last year's Breeders' Cup Classic. The malaise even carried over to his beloved Belmont Park this year. After winning the Grade 3 Westchester at Belmont in May, he finished second by 3¾ lengths to Honor Code in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap. Then, after trailing by as much as 13 lengths and getting an indecisive ride from jockey John Velazquez, he was second by a head in the Grade 2 Suburban at Belmont.

Next came the Whitney at Saratoga, where Tonalist was 18 lengths off the pace and had to settle for third, 1¾ lengths behind the victorious Honor Code and the pacesetting Liam's Map.

It looked like the game was starting to pass Tonalist by, but then Velazquez began keeping him closer to the pace (he trailed by no more than 7½ lengths at any call) and guided the son of Tapit to an easy victory in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at the same mile-and-a-quarter distance as the BC Classic. All of the sudden Clement could show his colt still has what it takes to thrive in one of the nation's most famous races.

"If you believe in speed figures, this horse has been running very good races all year long," Clement said. "He's been running similar all year long, very consistent. I've never been disappointed with him."

Of course, the Jockey Club Gold Cup was at Belmont Park, and now Tonalist has to pack his bags and head to Kentucky to face the sport's first Triple Crown winner in 37 years. The venue will no doubt cause some handicappers to ignore him, but Clement believes his horse does not have to carry his racetrack with him in order to win a major Grade 1 stakes.

"I don't think the track is a big deal for him," Clement said. "Keeneland is a smaller track than Belmont, so he probably needs to be closer to the pace than he might be at Belmont with the bigger turns. But we know he can do that and his speed figures at Saratoga [for Whitney] were about the same as they were at Belmont [for the JC Gold Cup]. I think he's good enough to handle it [at Keeneland]."

Handling the track, handling American Pharoah, Beholder and Honor Code, it's all part of the tremendous challenge that Tonalist will face on Saturday in the Breeders' Cup Classic. A few months ago, it would have been laughable to think he could do it.

But after revisiting the good old days in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, perhaps Tonalist is finally ready to take his show on the road and shine as brightly in Lexington, Kentucky, as he usually does in Elmont, New York.

At the very least, no one should forget about him.