OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Balboa, third in the Grade 2 Remsen in December, and runner-up in the Jerome in January, will make a return visit to Aqueduct on Feb. 28 for the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham Stakes, trainer Brittany Russell said Wednesday. Balboa is entered in Saturday’s Miracle Wood Stakes at Laurel Park but will scratch. Russell said a Thursday workout at Laurel still has to be gotten through but barring something unforeseen there, the Gotham is the plan for Balboa. “Looking at how he’s doing and who he’s been running against, I think he deserves another chance in one of these better races,” Russell said. “It’d be the easy thing to keep him home, but with the end goal [the Kentucky Derby] I think we’re at a point with Balboa where we need to learn something. Is he going to take that step forward? Where we at?” :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2026: Top contenders, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more Balboa, who began his career in California with Bob Baffert, has made three starts for Russell. He won the James F. Lewis at Laurel on Nov. 8 before finishing a respectable third behind Paladin and Renegade in the Grade 2 Remsen on Dec. 6. Paladin and Renegade have come back to win the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes and listed Sam F. Davis in their subsequent starts. Igniter is a third horse to come out of the Remsen to win his next start. Balboa returned to New York for the Jerome, where he had a clear lead in midstretch only to get run down by My World. Since Balboa was coming off two strong races, perhaps he regressed some in the Jerome. He will have eight weeks between starts in the Gotham, a one-turn mile race which offers 50 qualifying Kentucky Derby points to the winner. Entries for the Gotham are to be taken on Sunday. A potential list of runners includes Arbiter, Balboa, Creole Chrome, Dirty Rich, Exhibition Only, Fourth and One, Hammond, Iron Honor, and Right to Party. Napoleon Solo, the Grade 1 Champagne winner, is also still a possibility. Talkin, the runner-up to Napoleon Solo in the Champagne, is pointing to the Grade 3, $400,000 Tampa Bay Derby on March 7, trainer Danny Gargan said. Plans for National Identity National Identity, who ran his winning streak to four with a victory in last weekend’s Say Florida Sandy Stakes, will most likely point to the $135,000 Haynesfield Stakes on March 29, trainer Danny Gargan said. Though the Haynesfield is run as a one-turn-mile, Gargan believes National Identity could get that distance in New York-bred company. “I think he can get a one-turn mile against those horses he’s running against,” Gargan said. “We don’t have to be up on the engine. We can sit off it and make a run. I think we can get a mile if we sit.” National Identity, who won the seven-furlong Say Florida Sandy by 1 3/4 lengths, earned a 96 Beyer Speed Figure for the victory. Wet track in play Friday Cloudy Chance may be more than a hunch play in Friday’s seventh race at Aqueduct, one of two New York-bred starter allowance/optional-claiming events that could pass as co-features on the eight-race card. Rain is forecast Friday and Cloudy Chance won her maiden over a sloppy Finger Lakes track for trainer Chris Englehart. She is coming out of a third-place finish over a sealed track against New York-bred first-level allowance runners with one of her better speed figures. I’m Kidding has a win over a wet surface while the lightly raced Undergrad is coming in off a solid maiden win against maiden special weight company over a fast track. Twirling Lulu and Fifi La Fume have both run poorly over wet tracks. In race 8, for males going a mile, E Z Bourbon may move up over a wet track for Mark Hennig. E Z Bourbon is out of the dam E Z Passer, a five-time winner over a wet track. E Z Bourbon has a sister who went 2 for 2 over wet tracks. Toga Dan, by Solomini, is out of the dam Queen Hahen, who went 3 for 4 over a wet track. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.