Withers, then Wood the plan for El Areeb

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Preparing horses in the Northeast for big races at this time of year can be a bit tricky, with trainers focused as much on long-range weather forecasts as they are their horses.

Trainer Cal Lynch and his owners are certainly taking weather into consideration as they map out the short-term future for their promising 3-year-old El Areeb, the 11 1/4-length winner of Monday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct.

Provided all goes well with the horse and Mother Nature over the next several weeks, El Areeb will return to New York from Maryland for the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct on Feb. 4. The Withers is run at 1 1/16 miles and, like the Jerome, offers 10 qualifying points to the winner toward the May 6 Kentucky Derby.

Lynch said that if he runs El Areeb in the Withers, he could skip the Grade 3, $350,000 Gotham on March 4 and point El Areeb to the Grade 2 Wood Memorial, run over Aqueduct’s main track April 8.

Lynch said Wednesday that El Areeb came out of the Jerome in good shape and that the horse was scheduled to go back to the track at Laurel Park on Thursday.

“He came out of it well,” Lynch said. “He’s biting and kicking everybody in here this morning. If we can get a good month here and he’s going well, I don’t know if I can hold him another eight weeks.”

Lynch said he was “delighted” with El Areeb’s performance in the Jerome. In his first start around two turns and beyond six furlongs, El Areeb stalked the pacesetting favorite, Takaful, for five furlongs, took over at the three-eighths pole, and widened his advantage while being kept to task by jockey Trevor McCarthy.

It was El Areeb’s third straight victory after beginning his career with two defeats.

The final time of 1:46.18 for a mile and 70 yards would be considered slow, but it was the fastest by 2.51 seconds of three races run at the distance on the card. El Areeb earned a 91 Beyer Speed Figure.

Lynch did not use the words “Kentucky Derby” in discussion Wednesday. He will let the horse’s next two races dictate whether he belongs in that race. For now, however, Lynch simply likes having a talented 3-year-old.

“Numbers-wise, we’re as competitive as anybody except maybe Mark Casse’s horse,” said Lynch, referring to Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Classic Empire. “I feel like the horse is only getting better and has a right to improve. I wouldn’t trade him right now. I like him.”