Ohio Derby winner Batten Down may move on to Jim Dandy

Batten Down, front-running winner of Saturday’s Grade 3 Ohio Derby at Thistledown, could make his next start in the Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy on July 27 at Saratoga, trainer Bill Mott said.

Batten Down made the jump from the maiden ranks to graded stakes winner with a relatively easy 1 3/4-length score in the $500,000 Ohio Derby, a race where he was never seriously challenged on the front end.

“He was unchallenged early and got the job done,” Mott said. “He never got in a dogfight with anybody. He looked like a clear winner.”

Batten Down is a full brother to Tacitus who in 2019 finished second in the Jim Dandy and the Grade 1 Travers, both at Saratoga.

By winning the Ohio Derby, Batten Down is no longer eligible for the $135,000 Curlin Stakes on July 19 at Saratoga. However, Mott may have a candidate for that restricted race in Timeout, who on June 15 won a 1 1/8-mile maiden race by a neck at Aqueduct, earning a 95 Beyer Speed Figure. Timeout, by Curlin, had finished second and third in his first two starts. In his win, Timeout was equipped with blinkers for the first time and was trying 1 1/8 miles and two turns for the first time.

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“It seemed like the distance certainly helped, just having two races under his belt certainly helped,” Mott said. “I thought he might be as good as any of them we had early on. We always liked him. We’re probably disappointed it took three races to break his maiden.”

One 3-year-old who over the weekend likely put himself in the mix for either the Curlin or Jim Dandy was Unmatched Wisdom, a son of Cairo Prince trained by Chad Brown, who won a first-level allowance going 1 1/8 miles by 5 3/4 lengths at Aqueduct on Saturday. He beat a nondescript field but did it the right way and is now 2 for 2 following a 6 1/4-length debut victory going a mile at Aqueduct in May.

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