Morello's big win in Gotham sends him to Wood Memorial next

OZONE PARK, N.Y - Morello, a horse named for a guitarist, is rising up the charts in the 3-year-old division. If he can play just a little longer, he may have an engagement on racing’s biggest stage come the first Saturday in May.

After going through his progressions around one turn - capped by a solid 4 1/2-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 3 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct - Morello will try 1 1/8 miles and two turns for the first time in the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 9, his trainer Steve Asmussen said on Sunday. A good showing there could propel him to the Kentucky Derby on May 7 at Churchill Downs.

“Understandably, have Derby Fever. The way to get him to the Derby with the most horse is to use the Wood - with him being there and him having success at Aqueduct - as his steppingstone to the ultimate goal,” said Asmussen, the winningest trainer in North American history who is in search of his first Kentucky Derby victory.

I Want Revenge, in 2009, was the last horse to successfully pull off the Gotham-Wood double. He was scratched from the Kentucky Derby the morning of the race.

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From 2006-17, the Gotham was a two-turn, 1 1/16-mile race over Aqueduct’s winterized inner track. In summer 2017, that surface was replaced by a turf course and the Gotham was cut back to its original incarnation of a one-turn mile. Talkin Man, in 1995, was the last one-turn-mile Gotham winner to come back and win the Wood.

Morello shows similar form to Red Bullet, who in 2000 won a six-furlong maiden, a seven-furlong allowance and then the Gotham. He finished second in the Wood, skipped the Kentucky Derby, and won the Preakness, defeating Fusaichi Pegasus, who had beaten him in the Wood.

Asmussen likes the improvement Morello has made while gradually stretching out in distance and believes the horse is set up to handle more ground.

“I think he’s got a nice foundation of three races that give it a higher probability than not and a progression in distance,” Asmussen said. “I do think it speaks well how slow the racetrack’s been playing that he’s getting plenty out of it.”

Jose Lezcano, aboard Morello for all three of his starts, doesn’t see 1 1/8 miles as a problem.

“The last time, he went seven-eighths, he struggled a little bit the first three-eighths and after that he jumped into the bridle and take me and win easy,” Lezcano said after the race. “And today he was very comfortable the whole way.”

Morello’s final time of 1:38.19 - the fastest of five one-mile races run on Saturday’s card - equated to a 96 Beyer Speed Figure, the highest of his career.

Morello is owned by Blue Lion Thoroughbreds, a partnership headed by David Lyon. Among the partners in this horse is basketball coach Rick Pitino. Craig Taylor and Victoria Taylor (no relation) also own Morello. He was named in honor of Tom Morello, a guitarist best known for playing in the band Rage Against the Machine.

Morello is a son of Classic Empire, who was the 2-year-old champion of 2016 and the Preakness runner-up in 2017. Morello’s dam, Stop the Wedding, went 1 for 25, the win coming in a maiden $16,000 claiming race at seven furlongs.

The Todd Pletcher-trained pair of Dean’s List and Golden Code, who finished second and third behind Morello, are likely headed in different directions. Pletcher, after speaking with WinStar Farm president and CEO Elliott Walden, said Dean’s List would likely be turned back in distance. Seven-furlong races like the Grade 3, $200,000 Bay Shore at Aqueduct on April 9 or the $400,000 Lafayette at Keeneland on April 8 will be considered.

Golden Code, meanwhile, is possible for the Wood Memorial as Pletcher believes the son of Honor Code wants to go two turns.

“He’s always showed us in his works that he’s steady and keeps going and has galloped out well,” Pletcher said. “He finished with his legs underneath him yesterday at a mile and that was a step up for him against horses who had two good wins under their belts. It was encouraging. Kendrick [Carmouche] seemed pleased with the way he ran.”

Golden Code is owned by Calumet Farm. Last year, Calumet, Pletcher and Carmouche won the Wood with 72-1 Bourbonic.

Pletcher is also pointing Mo Donegal, last year’s Grade 2 Remsen winner at Aqueduct, to the Wood. Others being pointed to the Wood include Early Voting, who won the Withers here on Feb. 5 and is 2 for 2; Barese, a New York-bred who is 3 for 3, all in one-turn races versus New York-breds; and either Skippylongstocking or A. P.’s Secret, from the barn of Saffie Joseph Jr.

The top four finishers from the Wood Memorial earn qualifying points (100-50-20-10) to the Derby. The Wood Memorial has not produced a Kentucky Derby winner since Funny Cide in 2003.

Venti Valentine on target for Gazelle

Venti Valentine equaled the accomplishment of her half-sister Espresso Shot from 2019 when she won Saturday’s $250,000 Busher Invitational. Venti Valentine will try to one-up her older sister when she runs in the Grade 3, $250,000 Gazelle at Aqueduct on April 9.

Espresso Shot finished fifth in the Gazelle and was re-routed to races run around one turn. Venti Valentine already has run well at 1 1/8-miles - the distance of the Gazelle - having finished second, beaten a neck by Nest, in the Grade 2 Demoiselle here last December. Jorge Abreu trained both Espresso Shot and Venti Valentine.

“She’s a much better horse than Espresso Shot,” Abreu said of Venti Valentine. “She’s got more determination than Espresso Shot. Espresso Shot had distance limitations. This filly looks like the longer she goes the better she is.”

Abreu said his one concern going into the Busher was that Venti Valentine would be a bit short having missed a few workouts after developing a temperature in mid-January. That she won the Busher by seven lengths showed she was certainly ready to run.

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Abreu is hopeful that Venti Valentine, a daughter of Firing Line, runs well enough in the Gazelle to continue on to the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 6.

“If she performs good over there and I feel good I will send her to Kentucky right after the race,” Abreu said Sunday morning outside his Belmont Park barn.

Venti Valentine ran the mile in the Busher in 1:39.65 and earned a 92 Beyer.

Shotgun Hottie, who rallied to get second in the Busher, will also be pointed to the Gazelle, trainer William Morey said. Shotgun Hottie ran in the Busher after a narrow victory in the Ruthless Stakes going seven furlongs on Feb. 6.

“Obviously the winner ran huge, but she was finishing willingly,” Morey said. “Hopefully she'll enjoy a little more ground. She always trained like she’d go longer.”