Iron Honor targets Wood Memorial as next start
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Trainer Chad Brown believes there’s more than meets the eye to Iron Honor after he had to work harder than expected to beat an Ohio-bred stakes winner in Saturday’s Grade 3 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct.
In the Gotham, Iron Honor was making his first start since he won a six-furlong maiden race on Dec. 15 at Aqueduct. After that race, the horse shipped to South Florida, but developed an issue that he needed several weeks to overcome. Due to weather and track conditions, Iron Honor galloped just once in the final five days leading up to the Gotham. Iron Honor beat Crown the Buckeye, a horse making his sixth career start.
“For the horse to miss some time, run in a race where he had a clean trip but was pressured on both sides the whole way and got tested a bit at every pole, he was still fit enough to prevail and gallop out with good interest,” Brown said Sunday. “I was very pleased with the race. It couldn’t have gone better, honestly.”
The victory was worth 50 qualifying points for Iron Honor to the May 2 Kentucky Derby, a number typically enough to gain entry into the field. Iron Honor will get the opportunity to prove to Brown he’s a legitimate contender when he runs in the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 4. The Wood is run at 1 1/8 miles and will be Iron Honor’s first start beyond one mile and around two turns.
Brown, pointing to the fact that Iron Honor is by Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist and the dam is by Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Blame, said “I don’t see any reason why the horse won’t get a mile and an eighth and beyond.”
Iron Honor pressed the pace the entire way in the Gotham, edging clear of Crown the Buckeye late. He ran a mile in 1:37.94 and earned a 90 Beyer Speed Figure.
The Wood field figures to be in flux until closer to the race. Talk to Me Jimmy, the dominant winner of the Withers Stakes, is expected to run. Brown said he plans to run Ottinho, who was third, 11 1/2 lengths behind Talk to Me Jimmy in the Withers.
Brown said Ottinho had just one workout in the five weeks between his maiden win on Dec. 31 and the Withers on Feb. 6. On Saturday, Ottinho worked a half-mile in 49.80 seconds equipped with blinkers for the first time.
“Now, he has not missed any training,” Brown said. “He worked good [Saturday] with a blinker on. He worked the right way. This horse is a mile-and-an-eighth, mile-and-a-quarter horse and he worked super.”
Paradise to Gazelle
Paradise, who shipped up from Florida to win Saturday’s Busher Stakes by 3 3/4 lengths, will stay in New York and point to the Grade 3, $200,000 Gazelle Stakes going 1 1/8 miles on April 4, trainer Brad Cox said Sunday.
Paradise, who won her second straight one-turn-mile race in the Busher, will get a chance to prove herself around two turns in the Gazelle.
“When they’re running well around one turn you’re like do they really want to go around two turns?” Cox mused. “I thought from what we saw from her yesterday she could handle the mile and an eighth.”
Paradise, a daughter of Gun Runner, earned a 78 Beyer Speed Figure for the Busher. She will likely take on Busher runner-up Nycon, who had missed 12 days of training between her runner-up finish in the Cash Run Stakes at Gulfstream on Jan. 1 to the Busher. She finished second by a neck over Interstatelovesong.
“She galloped out so well,” trainer Whit Beckman said. “That was too short for her. I think I’m going to go back for the Gazelle the way she ran there yesterday.”
Unlike Cox, Beckman does not have horses stabled in New York. So, Nycon will ship to Turfway Park to train before returning for the Gazelle. Beckman said Blazing Brat, who finished last in the five-horse Busher, will likely shorten up in distance in the future.
Bold Journey possible for dirt or turf
Trainer Bill Mott doesn’t know exactly where Bold Journey will make his next start, he just knows it won’t be at a distance beyond six furlongs.
Thus, you won’t find Bold Journey, winner of Saturday’s Grade 3 Tom Fool Stakes, in the Grade 2 Carter going seven furlongs on April 4.
The next six-furlong stakes in New York is the Grade 3, $175,000 John Nerud at Aqueduct on May 9.
Bold Journey, who earned a 97 Beyer Speed Figure for his Tom Fool win, has one win and five seconds from eight career starts on turf. One such race that was mentioned to Mott by the owners is the Grade 2, $400,000 Shakertown going 5 1/2 furlongs at Keeneland on April 4.
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