Gotham still under consideration for El Areeb

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Cal Lynch says he only has a small say in plotting out the schedule for his talented 3-year-old El Areeb. The horse himself is the one who is truly dictating when he’ll make his next start.

While Lynch said he would like to wait until April 8 to run the horse next – in either the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct or the Blue Grass at Keeneland – he did say Friday that the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct on March 4 remains a possibility for the gray son of Exchange Rate. El Areeb has already galloped to victories in the Jerome and Withers over Aqueduct’s inner track as he makes a bid for a start in the Kentucky Derby.

“The Gotham is a great, historic race, but it’ll have to fall in line with what works for him,” Lynch said. “He has to be perfect and tell me he can’t wait.”

On Saturday at Laurel, El Areeb was scheduled to have his first work since the Withers. Lynch said it wouldn’t be much more than a maintenance move. Lynch plans to put his son Charlie on the horse and wait until next weekend to put jockey Trevor McCarthy on for a workout. After that work, Lynch said, he’ll likely decide where to run El Areeb.

Lynch thinks that waiting until April to run El Areeb is the prudent thing to do so the horse is not overraced heading into the May 6 Kentucky Derby.

But, Lynch said, “The extra time is more for me than my horse.”

“He’s going to be the one who dictates what we do and where we go,” Lynch said.

Nominations for the Gotham – which offers 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the winner – were to close Saturday. The field is very much in flux as trainers in Florida and California seek adequate – and affordable – transportation to New York.

Doug O’Neill, based in Southern California, said he would like to ship the maiden Irap here for the Gotham. Irap, a son of Tiznow, finished second to Royal Mo in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita on Feb. 4.

O’Neill said he became intrigued by the Gotham when the connections of Mo Town said they were going to run him in the Risen Star at Fair Grounds rather than in the Gotham.

“It’s still going to be a tough race, but not as tough as it looked a couple of weeks ago,” O’Neill said.

Last year, the Southern California-based Trojan Nation was an 0-for-5 maiden when he came to the Wood Memorial and finished second, beaten a head, to qualify for the Kentucky Derby.

O’Neill said Irap is “a typical Tiznow.”

“A lot of class,” he said. “The further the better, the more racing the more mature he gets. Horse has a lot of upside, a lot more improvement in him.”

Practical Joke, the Hopeful and Champagne winner of 2016, and Lookin for Eight, a recent private purchase by John Oxley and trainer Mark Casse, are under consideration for the Gotham.