Ocean Knight will bypass Gotham in favor of Tampa Bay Derby
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
The day before entries were to be taken and post positions assigned for Saturday’s Grade 3, $400,000 Gotham Stakes, the race lost a marquee player as the connections of Ocean Knight decided to stay in Florida and run in Saturday’s Tampa Bay Derby the same day.
The decision came Tuesday morning, just 90 minutes before Ocean Knight was to have traveled by plane from south Florida to New York along with fellow Gotham runners Lieutenant Colonel and Blame Jim.
Though he had won the Sam F. Davis on Jan. 31 at Tampa, Ocean Knight was being pointed to the Gotham because his owner, Barbara Banke’s Stonestreet Stables, was planning to use the Tampa Bay Derby as the 3-year-old debut for Carpe Diem and didn’t want to run the two against each other.
But the two will face each other as Banke changed her mind, owing to an ominous forecast for the week in New York that could hamper the colt’s ability to train Wednesday through Friday. Rain and snow is in the forecast Tuesday afternoon through Thursday. The forecast for race day is actually quite nice with dry conditions and temperatures in the low 40s.
“I’ve been watching the weather forecast and certainly it’s not looking all that good,” Banke said. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to train over the track. It’s a little iffy. We’ll just run at Tampa and hope for the best; hope for a dead heat.”
Kiaran McLaughlin, the trainer of Ocean Knight, was fine with the decision to stay in Florida and run.
“They prefer for us to run at Tampa, and I do too,” McLaughlin said. “It’s a 3 1/2-hour van ride. It just makes sense.”
Irad Ortiz Jr. will retain the mount on Ocean Knight for the Tampa Bay Derby.
Ocean Knight joined Withers Stakes winner Far From Over as major defections from the Gotham, a 1 1/16-mile race that offers 85 qualifying points (50-20-10-5) to the top four finishers toward the May 2 Kentucky Derby.
El Kabeir, the Grade 3 Jerome winner and Withers runner-up, figures to be a strong favorite in the Gotham. Others pointing to the race are Classy Class and Tencendur, third and fourth, respectively, in the Withers; and maiden winners Lieutenant Colonel, Dontbetwithbruno, and Blame Jim. Dontbetwithbruno and Blame Jim will run as a coupled entry as both are owned by Mike Repole and trained by Todd Pletcher. Combat Diver, second in the Miracle Wood Stakes at Laurel, is possible.