Aqueduct: Samraat tops Uncle Sigh again in Gotham

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Samraat and Uncle Sigh removed any lingering doubt about their Kentucky Derby credentials, while the late-starting In Trouble proved himself worthy of joining the Triple Crown trail as that trio finished two necks apart in a thrilling renewal of the Grade 3, $500,000 Gotham Stakes Saturday at Aqueduct.

Samraat, racing widest of all under Jose Ortiz, outfinished that duo by a neck, with Uncle Sigh finishing a neck in front of In Trouble. It was 5 1/4 lengths back to Financial Mogul, who was followed in the order of finish by Harpoon, Master Lightning, Deceived, Extrasexyhippzster, and Noble Cornerstone. Monopolize and Classic Giacnroll scratched.

Samraat remained undefeated from five career starts and earned 50 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby under a system employed by Churchill Downs to determine the field in the likely event the race draws more than 20 entrants. Samraat now has 60 points because he also won the Withers last month.

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

Saturday’s win was also the second time in four weeks that Samraat came out on the winning end of a stretch-long duel with Uncle Sigh, who earned 20 points toward the Derby. In Trouble, making his first start since last Sept. 29, was a game customer along the rail, fighting on after setting the pace before giving way grimly under Joe Rocco Jr. He earned 10 points toward the Derby.

Though four wide down the backside and three wide from the half-mile pole to the wire, Samraat, who raced in third position outside of In Trouble and Uncle Sigh, may have had the better of the trips. He had no one to his outside for the tightly run stretch drive, but was carrying seven pounds more than Uncle Sigh, who chased from second. Jose Ortiz never used his whip on Samraat, instead utilizing a vigorous hand-ride through the lane as things tightened up.

The stewards called for a general inquiry of the stretch run, but did not take any action.

“In the stretch, when I showed him the whip a little bit he was lugging in, but I never made any contact with the other horses,” Ortiz said.” I just hand-ride him and he responded very good, and I tried to keep him straight and he go straight.”

Corey Nakatani, riding Uncle Sigh for the first time, said Samraat in the stretch had him in “so tight, he’s got no room to stride."

"He keeps on trying," Nakatani said of Uncle Sigh. "He gets bumped again and brushed, and he gets a lot of experience out of this but it definitely cost us the race.”

Gary Contessa, the trainer of Uncle Sigh, said he did not expect Samraat to be disqualified.

Samraat, a New York-bred son of Noble Causeway, covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.44 and returned $6.40 to win as the 2-1 favorite.

Rick Violette, who trains Samraat for owner Len Riggio’s My Meadowview Stable, thought this performance was even better than Samraat's in the Withers. Samraat stalked Uncle Sigh and beat him by one length in that race.

“Today he graduated big time,” Violette said. “Last race was a terrific race, this was a notch above that. He’s wider both turns, and carrying all that weight. He was pretty impressive today, I thought.”

Contessa, who trains Uncle Sigh for Chip McEwen’s Wounded Warrior Stable and Anthony Robertson, was happy with his colt’s performance despite the narrow loss.

“We closed the gap," Contessa said. "Again didn’t have the best of trips being between those horses. It was a real intimidation factor. Who knows what that did to his psyche? I’m certainly continuing forward.”

Both Violette and Contessa said that their horses will be pointed to the $1 million Wood Memorial on April 5 here. Samraat was scheduled to be flown to south Florida on Sunday. In Trouble will also be on that flight, but trainer and part-owner Tony Dutrow said he would come back for the Wood.

Dutrow said he was “very happy” with the way his horse ran considering it was his first start around two turns and first since winning the Grade 2 Belmont Futurity last September. He had a chip taken out of a knee in October.

“I’m sure he got a little tired - Joe thought he got a little tired," Dutrow said. "I have to feel like this was a real positive step in the right direction. We’ll come back up for the Wood Memorial with a tighter horse. I have to be very happy with today.”