Pletcher using Gotham as testing ground

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Todd Pletcher went into last month’s Withers Stakes with an unheralded maiden winner and came out with yet another Kentucky Derby candidate.

On Saturday, Pletcher will see if he has another Far From Over on his bench when he sends out a trio of under-the-radar 3-year-olds against the multiple stakes winner El Kabeir in the Grade 3, $400,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct. On Wednesday, Pletcher entered the maiden winners Dontbetwithbruno and Blame Jim as well as the maiden Uninfluenced in the Gotham. All three horses are owned by Mike Repole and will be coupled in the wagering.

Uninfluenced was among three late entrants who helped bulk up the Gotham field to 10. Supplemented to the race for a fee of $4,000 were Tiz Shea D, privately purchased by a group headed by Adam Wachtel following a maiden win at Parx, and Toasting Master, a two-time sprint winner at Churchill Downs last fall who ran fourth in an OBS Stakes in January. Toasting Master is owned by West Point Thoroughbreds and trained by Dale Romans.

:: ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays

El Kabeir, the winner of the Grade 3 Jerome and the runner-up in the Grade 3 Withers, drew post 4 in the 10-horse field. He had left from the outside post in his previous two starts.

The Gotham, which offers 85 qualifying points (50-20-10-5) to the top four finishers for the May 2 Kentucky Derby, will go as race 9 on a 10-race card that begins at 12:50 p.m. Eastern.

Pletcher and Repole teamed to win the 2011 Gotham with Stay Thirsty, who ran 12th in that year’s Kentucky Derby before finishing second in the Belmont Stakes. That summer, Stay Thirsty won the Jim Dandy and Travers stakes.

Dontbetwithbruno, who drew post 2, is the most seasoned of the Pletcher-Repole trio, having raced three times. He won a maiden race by a nose over Money Multiplier on Feb. 1. Prior to that, he lost a neck decision to March on Jan. 11. Last November, he finished fourth in an off-the-turf maiden race going a one-turn mile.

“I think he is getting better,” Pletcher said. “He’s the kind of horse that with racing should improve. He needs to keep coming forward. We need to find out where we are, and now’s the time.”

Blame Jim, who drew post 10, could be the fastest of the Pletcher-Repole trio, but he has yet to race around two turns. Blame Jim, a gelding by Sharp Humor, won his debut last July at Saratoga and was training toward a possible start in the Grade 1 Hopeful when Pletcher had to stop on him in late August for “2-year-old stuff,” the trainer said.

Blame Jim returned to the work tab in early December and returned to the races in a first-level allowance race at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 8, finishing second to stablemate Stanford.

“The question mark is how he’s going to handle the step up in class and distance,” Pletcher said. “This is the right time and place to take a shot.”

Uninfluenced, a son of Indian Charlie, seemed well on his way to a maiden victory here Feb. 22 but got nailed late by Net Gain.

“He got a little bit lost on the lead,” Pletcher said. “He’s a colt that’s still learning, didn’t know what to do with it, and got caught by surprise. He’s a horse that always trained very well, showed improvement stretching out. Mike and I talked about that if he would have won that race, we might have come back on short rest and considered it. He basically ran a winning race, he just didn’t cross the wire first.”

Uninfluenced will break from post 8.

Completing the field are Classy Class (post 3) and Tencendur (post 9), third and fourth in the Withers; Lieutenant Colonel (post 5); and Combat Diver (post 1).

Salutos Amigos risks streak

Salutos Amigos will seek his fourth consecutive stakes victory when he meets familiar foe Dads Caps and five others in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Tom Fool Handicap.

Salutos Amigos, the 125-pound highweight, drew post 5, two spots outside of Dads Caps, who figures to set the pace in the Tom Fool, as he did in the Grade 3 Toboggan before being run down by Salutos Amigos. Salutos Amigos will be ridden by Cornelio Velasquez, who was aboard for his victory in the Grade 3 Fall Highweight in November. Irad Ortiz Jr., in Florida on Saturday, had ridden Salutos Amigos in his last two starts.

The Tom Fool, at six furlongs, will go as race 4 on the 10-race program.

Inner-track specialist Storied Lady tops a field of six entered for Saturday’s $100,000 Cat Cay Stakes for fillies and mares. The Cat Cay, at 1 1/16 miles, will go as race 3.