Alvarado, Classy Class get acquainted

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The hot-riding Junior Alvarado has picked up the mount on Classy Class for next Saturday’s Grade 3, $400,000 Gotham Stakes. On Friday, Alvarado got acquainted with the 3-year-old colt, guiding him through a half-mile workout in 49.03 seconds over the Belmont Park training track.

The work was the one and only move Classy Class will have between his third-place finish in the Grade 3 Withers on Feb. 7 and the Gotham. Classy Class, working by himself, went his first quarter in 24.01 seconds and his second quarter in 25.02. He galloped out five furlongs in 1:02.24.

“He just ran a few weeks ago; he’s pretty keen,” said Art Magnuson, assistant to trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. “He’s a racehorse now. We were just looking to get some air in him.”

In the Withers, Classy Class, under Irad Ortiz Jr., opened up a 1 1/2-length lead through an opening quarter in 24.40 seconds before being confronted by El Kabeir with six furlongs remaining. Classy Class and El Kabeir battled until inside the sixteenth pole, where Classy Class gave way, finishing third to the winner, Far From Over.

“That second quarter they ran on a little bit,” Magnuson said. “When you’re in a stake, you can’t expect to canter along by yourself. We didn’t tell Irad to go to the lead, he just broke sharp, and he was right there on the rail and went on. I thought it was a great trip.”

Ortiz will ride Ocean Knight, McLaughlin’s other starter in the Gotham. Ocean Knight was scheduled to breeze over the weekend at Palm Meadows before shipping to New York on Tuesday.

Also working for the Gotham on Friday was Dontbetwithbruno, who went five furlongs in 1:03.53 over the training track in company with Sedonack. Dontbetwithbruno, a nose maiden winner Feb. 1, worked inside of Sedonack as the pair went in splits of 25.56 seconds for the opening quarter and 37.75 for three furlongs, getting their final quarter in 25.78.

“The time wasn’t that fast, but the way he did it I thought was very good,” said Byron Hughes, assistant to trainer Todd Pletcher.

Pletcher is also expected to run Blame Jim in the Gotham. Blame Jim, a debut winner at Saratoga, came back off a long layoff to run second in a first-level allowance race at Gulfstream on Feb. 8. Both Dontbetwithbruno and Blame Jim are owned by Mike Repole and will run as a coupled entry.

Far From Over, the Withers winner, is scheduled to breeze Sunday at Palm Beach Downs, after which Pletcher will decide whether to run him in the Gotham or wait for the Wood Memorial. Pletcher has indicated to NYRA racing officials that he is leaning toward waiting for the Wood.

Others pointing to the Gotham include El Kabeir, Lieutenant Colonel, and Tencendur. Combat Diver is possible.