Aqueduct: Deep field lines up for Gotham Stakes
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though billed as a rematch between Withers Stakes one-two finishers Samraat and Uncle Sigh, Saturday’s Grade 3, $500,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct is far from a two-horse race. The presence of Financial Mogul, In Trouble, Harpoon, and Extrasexyhippzster add intrigue to a race that most likely will produce at least one starter for the May 3 Kentucky Derby.
The Gotham winner has run in the Kentucky Derby in each of the past four years, though Hansen’s ninth-place finish in 2012 has been the best finish during that span.
This year’s Gotham winner will earn 50 qualifying points to the Derby under a system used by Churchill Downs to determine the field should, as is virtually certain, the race draw more than 20 entrants. The Gotham’s second- through fourth-place finishers also earns points (20-10-5).
The 1 1/16-mile Gotham drew a field of 11, but Monopolize – one of three Todd Pletcher trainees in the race – will scratch to run in a race in Florida.[bc_video_id:317474:]
In the Grade 3 Withers on Feb. 1, Samraat and Uncle Sigh dueled virtually the entire way around Aqueduct’s inner track before Samraat pulled away late to win by a length. Uncle Sigh, in his stakes debut, finished 10 1/4 lengths clear of third-place finisher Scotland. That victory kept Samraat, a New York-bred son of Noble Causeway, undefeated from four starts.
Rick Violette knows his horse has to be even better Saturday. Violette trains Samraat for Len Riggio’s My Meadowview Farm, which also is represented in the race by Noble Cornerstone.
“He has to continue to raise his level,” said Violette, who has trained Samraat in Florida. “He has to run better and faster than he did in the Withers to win the Gotham. It’s a tougher race. There’s more speed in the race, more bona-fide one-run horses, and some horses that run in the middle of the pack. There’s no just beating Uncle Sigh here.”
In Financial Mogul, Violette may have one of the late runners who could pull off an upset in the Gotham. Last November, Financial Mogul finished second in the Grade 2 Nashua Stakes over Aqueduct’s main track. Four of the first five finishers from the Nashua – Cairo Prince (Holy Bull), Noble Moon (Jerome), Intense Holiday (Risen Star), and Jose Sea View (Display) – have come back to win stakes.
Financial Mogul, a son of Street Boss, finished sixth to Cairo Prince in the Grade 2 Holy Bull but was beaten only 2 1/4 lengths for second. In addition to that being his first start in 83 days, Financial Mogul emerged from the Holy Bull with “crud in his lungs,” according to Violette, who sent the horse to Fair Hill, a training center in Maryland that has a hyperbaric chamber, which helps treat lung issues. It also has a synthetic track, and Financial Mogul was able to put in three workouts over the Tapeta surface for the Gotham.
“He’s positioned to take a significant leap forward,” Violette said. “He’s a one-run horse. He’s not a grinder; he can explode a little bit and quicken. I’m dying to see him run.”
Financial Mogul will break from post 2 under Shaun Bridgmohan, replacing Jose Ortiz, who stays on Samraat in post 8.
[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]
Uncle Sigh gets a new rider in Corey Nakatani, who replaces Pablo Morales. In the Withers, where he broke from the rail, trainer Gary Contessa instructed Morales to make the lead. Breaking from post 3 and with more speed in this field, Contessa expects Uncle Sigh to work out a stalking trip, though Contessa is fearful of the primary speed, In Trouble.
“If he wants to go two turns, he’s a very troubling horse in there, but I like his presence because I don’t have to go to the lead,” Contessa said. “I like the way this plays out. If I go, it’s because Nakatani decided he wants to, not because I told him he has to.”
In Trouble has the difficult task of making his two-turn debut off a 153-day layoff. He had a knee chip removed a few weeks after he won the Grade 2 Futurity at Belmont Park in September, his second win in as many starts.
“He has made me feel with each passing week that he is very good,” said Tony Dutrow, who trains and is a part owner of In Trouble. “My opinion is I have almost no concerns about his ability to get a mile and a sixteenth.”
In Trouble breaks from the rail under Joe Rocco Jr., and Dutrow expects his horse to be on the lead entering the first turn.
Harpoon was beaten a nose by Vinceremos in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, a race in which he had the inside post. He breaks from the extreme outside Saturday, which Pletcher feels might be a plus.
“He never seemed comfortable on the inside, getting dirt in his face, never switched leads down the lane,” said Pletcher, who trains Harpoon for the Let’s Go Stable of Bryan Sullivan and Kevin Scatuorchio. “Those three things stopped his momentum along the way.”
Irad Ortiz Jr. rides Harpoon from post 10.
Extrasexyhippzster tries two turns for the first time but is coming off a dominant victory in the Miracle Wood Stakes, a one-turn mile at Laurel Park. Deceived, Classic Giacnroll, and Master Lightning complete the field.