Brooklyn Strong bypassing Withers

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Brooklyn Strong, the Grade 2 Remsen winner, will miss the Grade 3 Withers Stakes on Feb. 6 at Aqueduct after getting sick and missing some training time, trainer and part-owner Daniel Velazquez said Thursday.

“He’s going to miss the Withers,” Velazquez said. “His blood count was off and we had to give him a little time. I could run in the Withers, but I wouldn’t feel ready for the Withers.”

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Velazquez said there is a backup plan, but he wanted to wait to see how the horse is doing before revealing it. Velazquez has previously said that a race like the Florida Derby on March 27 could be a possibility. Velazquez’s father, Alfredo Velazquez, is based at Gulfstream, so the younger Velazquez could send the horse to him.

Part-owner Mark Schwartz said after the Remsen that he spends the winter in Florida so he wouldn’t mind seeing Brooklyn Strong race in that state. The Grade 2, $350,000 Fountain of Youth is at Gulfstream on Feb. 27. There is also the Grade 2, $400,000 Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs on March 6.

Brooklyn Strong, a gelding by Wicked Strong, has won three of four starts, including the Sleepy Hollow Stakes versus New York-breds at Belmont last October.

Among those under consideration for the Withers are Capo Kane, winner of the Jerome Stakes, and the Todd Pletcher-trained duo of Overtook and Donegal Bay.