Aqueduct: Noble Moon may target Withers, skip Gotham

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Leah Gyarmati plans to run Noble Moon twice more before hopefully making it to the Kentucky Derby on May 3. Though one of those starts will be the Grade 1 Wood Memorial here at Aqueduct on April 5, the other race - the next one - has not yet been determined.

Her initial thought immediately following Noble Moon’s two-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Jerome was to wait for the Grade 3, $500,000 Gotham Stakes on March 1. However, Gyarmati said Sunday she may elect to run back in the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers Stakes on Feb. 1 instead.

“If he comes out of this really well maybe that is the better move - to run in the Withers and skip the next race,” said Gyarmati, referring to the Gotham.

[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]

Noble Moon had nine weeks between the Nashua and the Jerome and though Gyarmati said she thought Noble Moon ran hard on Saturday, jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. told her the colt “was kind of playing with them.”

“Maybe he didn’t run as hard as it looked like he ran,” Gyarmati said on a damp Sunday morning at Belmont. “It looked like to me he was under pressure the whole way - he never really got a break - but maybe not.”

Gyarmati said she wouldn’t make a decision on the Withers for at least two weeks. She did say that Noble Moon was “full of himself” immediately after the Jerome.

“Back in the receiving barn, he knocked the groom down,” Gyarmati said. “He came back breathing fire.”

For his third start, Noble Moon showed yet a different running style. After going gate to wire to win his debut and rallying from last to finish third in the Grade 2 Nashua, Noble Moon on Saturday stalked the pace from second for the first three furlongs before taking the lead at the five-furlong marker. In the stretch, he showed some tenacity, fending off an outside threat from Classic Giacnroll and an inside challenge from Scotland. Classic Giacnroll finished second by 2 1/2 lengths over Scotland.

“That’s always nice to see because the tougher the races get the more of that you’re going to have to do,” Gyarmati said.

Noble Moon, a son of Malibu Moon, ran a mile and 70 yards in 1:45.08 and was assigned an 85 Beyer Speed Figure for the performance.

If he runs in the Withers, it is expected that Noble Moon will again face Classic Giacnroll, whose connections were pleased enough with the colt’s performance to keep him based at Aqueduct and point for the Withers, which, like the Jerome, offers 17 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby (10-4-2-1) for the first four finishers.

Classic Giacnroll is trained by Lisa Guerrero and her husband Juan Carlos, who are primarily based at Parx and a farm in Williamstown, N.J.

“We’re coming back. We’re going to keep him on the path,” Lisa Guerrero said after the race.”

At this point, others pointing to the Withers, at 1 1/16 miles, include the undefeated New York-bred Samraat and the New York-bred maiden winner Uncle Sigh.

* Street Gent, a 3-year-old maiden winner Gyarmati trains for Jeff Treadway - owner of Noble Moon - worked four furlongs in 50.11 seconds Sunday morning over the Belmont training track. He is also possible for the Withers.