Laoban works for Gotham Stakes

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Somehow, the bombastic trainer Eric Guillot quietly snuck into town earlier this week.

Guillot hopes that come next Saturday, he and his 3-year-old maiden Laoban will make some noise and start down the Triple Crown trail.

Laoban and Guillot arrived in New York from Southern California on Tuesday. On Saturday morning, Laoban worked six furlongs in 1:15.06 over Aqueduct’s inner track in preparation for next Saturday’s Grade 3, $400,000 Gotham Stakes here. The top four finishers from the Gotham earn qualifying points to the May 7 Kentucky Derby on a 50-20-10-5 basis.

“Nothing’s easy, but it’s the lightest 50-pointer of the bunch,” Guillot said Saturday of his decision to run in the Gotham. “That’s why I’m here. I’m not here for the weather.”

Guillot is a native of Louisiana, and his stable is based in Southern California. His attire usually consists of a T-shirt and shorts. On Saturday morning, with temperatures just below 30, Guillot had on a hooded sweatshirt, a knit cap, and jeans.

Though it was cold, it was bright when Laoban came onto the inner track shortly after it reopened at 7:45 a.m. following the renovation break.

Laoban, a big, good-looking son of Uncle Mo, broke off at the six-furlong pole and went an easy opening eighth in 13.64 seconds. He gradually picked things up, going a quarter in 26.18, three-eighths in 38.53, and a half-mile in 51.11.

With exercise rider Simon Harris mildly urging the blinkered colt in the stretch, Laoban got his final quarter in 23.95 seconds and then galloped out seven-eighths in 1:28.61 and a mile in 1:43.44.

“They tell me you can’t really win here without having a chance to get over it,” said Guillot, who was pleased with the move.

Laoban is winless in three starts. He was off slowly and finished seventh in his debut at Del Mar in November. Twenty days later, equipped with blinkers for the first time, Laoban set the pace and was run down by Let’s Meet in Rio in a one-mile, two-turn maiden race at Los Alamitos.

Buoyed by that performance, Guillot ran Laoban in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes, where things didn’t go well from the start. Laoban got bumped out of the gate, and according to Guillot, jockey Tyler Baze’s saddle moved up on the colt’s withers. Laoban was rank and wide into the turn and down the backstretch.

Laoban continued to try through the lane but had to settle for third behind the Bob Baffert-trained duo of Collected and Let’s Meet in Rio.

“He got rank, he had to break stride, and you can’t break his stride,” Guillot said. “He’s a really super-nice horse.”

Guillot had Laoban entered in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita on Feb. 6 but had to scratch when the horse had a 101.2-degree temperature on race day. Hoping the colt could recover quickly, Guillot entered him back in the Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds last Saturday but felt that race was too tough and said the horse wasn’t fully recovered from his illness.

“He’s got heart, desire, ability,” Guillot said. “He’s a grinder; he’s not a plodder. He doesn’t have a big turn of foot.”

Guillot said Aaron Gryder will ride Laoban in the Gotham.

Other Gotham horses who put in workouts Saturday included Shagaf, who went a half-mile in 48.95 at Palm Meadows, and Rally Cry, who went a half-mile in 48.60 seconds with a strong gallop-out at Palm Beach Downs.

Shagaf and Rally Cry, first and third in a first-level allowance race Jan. 29 at Gulfstream, were expected to ship to New York on Tuesday. Conquest Big E, fourth in the Grade 2 Holy Bull, is also expected on that flight.

Others pointing to the Gotham include Withers Stakes first- and third-place finishers Sunny Ridge and Adventist and the New York-bred Vincento. Matt King Coal and My Man Sam are possible, but both are also eligible for a first-level allowance race that is in the condition book for Sunday.