They’re coming from several locales to run in Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct. Some may be chasing Kentucky Derby points. Some may be just trying to win a historic race with a nice purse. Saturday’s Gotham, contested as a one-turn mile, has more potential to be a good betting race than a Derby prep. In fact, only four of the eight horses scheduled to run – Creole Chrome will scratch and stay at Fair Grounds to run Saturday in a Louisiana-bred stakes – are nominated to the Triple Crown. The top five Gotham finishers earn Derby points on a 50-25-15-10-5 basis. The Gotham has not produced a Derby winner since Secretariat in 1973. Iron Honor, off just one race – albeit a fast one – for trainer Chad Brown 10 weeks ago, is likely the Gotham favorite. It was just last year when Brown sent out debut winner Garamond to the Gotham off a debut win. He finished third at 5-1. Iron Honor, a son of Nyquist, won his debut going six furlongs on Dec. 13, earning a 95 Beyer Speed Figure. The two horses who finished directly behind him – Crossingthechannel and Right to Party – came back to win. Right to Party is in the Gotham. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Iron Honor raced in blinkers, something Brown doesn’t often do with first-time starters. It was getting late in the year and Brown needed to see more from the colt before running him. “When we did put the blinkers on the horse he did wake up, he trained significantly better,” Brown said. “He’s never been a straightforward or willing work horse. His works are back in line to where he was. I’m happy with him again, so he’s ready to be entered.” Brown said Iron Honor, after his debut, needed some extra time to recover from the race due to some body soreness. Iron Honor breaks from post 6 under Manny Franco. Dirty Rich, a son of Thousand Words trained by Peter Miller, is all speed. At Del Mar last summer, he won a maiden $150,000 claiming race, beating subsequent Breeders’ Cup Juvenile runner-up Mr. A. P. in the process. The Gotham will be the first time Dirty Rich races beyond six furlongs on dirt. He finished last of 13 in the one-mile Del Mar Juvenile Turf. “He’s very fast, we just don’t know how far he’ll carry it,” Miller said. “The one-turn mile could be within his scope.” Balboa, based in Maryland with Brittany Russell, returns to New York for a third straight race following a third behind Paladin and Renegade in the Grade 2 Remsen last December and a second to My World in the Jerome. Hammond, trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., is not yet nominated to the Triple Crown. He enters the Gotham off a third-place finish behind his stablemate Solitude Dude and Class President in the seven-furlong Swale Stakes on Jan. 31. It was his first start in two months and the 84 Beyer Speed Figure he earned is a career best. “I thought he ran good last time against two good horses after not breaking well,” Joseph said. “I think he gets the mile the way he ran last time. Numbers-wise, it was a good jump forward for him. It was the first time he ran a respectable number.” Jaime Rodriguez rides Hammond. Exhibition Only came off a three-month layoff to win a one-mile maiden race by 7 3/4 lengths. He did race on Lasix for the first time that day – medication that is not permissible for use in stakes – and, more importantly, took advantage of a huge speed bias that was in play at that time. Crown the Buckeye, a two-time Ohio-bred stakes winner, is cutting back in distance after running eighth in the Grade 3 Lecomte at Fair Grounds on Jan. 17. He did win an Ohio-bred stakes going two turns at Mahoning Valley and was third, beaten less than a length by Chip Honcho, in the Gun Runner. :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports “Always suspect around two turns,” trainer Mike Maker said. “He ran a good race against open company in the Gun Runner and [caught] just too hot of a pace [in Lecomte]. He’s more of a seven-eighths to a mile horse.” Right to Party, third to Iron Honor in a Dec. 13 debut, came back to win his maiden going a mile on Jan. 10 for trainer Kenny McPeek. Fourth and One cuts back to one turn after finishing sixth in the Withers at 1 1/8 miles. The Gotham goes as the last race on a card that includes the $200,000 Busher for 3-year-old fillies chasing Kentucky Oaks points, the Grade 3, $175,000 Tom Fool for older male sprinters, and the $150,000 Stymie going a mile, also for older males. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.