Wood Memorial next goal for Shagaf

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - With his perfect record intact, Gotham Stakes winner Shagaf will continue down the Triple Crown trail with his next stop being the Grade 1, $1 million Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 9, trainer Chad Brown said Sunday.

Shagaf, a son of Bernardini, improved his record to 3 for 3, running down the pacesetting Laoban to win Saturday’s Grade 3, $400,000 Gotham by 1 1/4 lengths. The Gotham was run over an extremely inside-speed favoring inner track and Shagaf was the only horse to be able to come from off the pace and win on the 10-race program.

Shagaf will most likely meet Gotham third-place finisher Adventist and possibly Gotham fourth-place finisher Sunny Ridge in the Wood, run at 1 1/8 miles over Aqueduct’s main track.

Meanwhile, Laoban, the Gotham runner-up, is likely to make his next start in the Grade 1, $1 million Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 9, according to trainer Eric Guillot.

Shagaf overcame a significant speed bias to rally from fourth to run down Laoban, who set the pace after breaking slowly. Brown said the fact Shagaf was taking kickback for a prolonged period for the first time may have caused him to come off the bridle for part of the race, but overall Brown was happy with what he saw.

“It doesn’t surprise me at all that the horse was running in spots being right in the pocket catching a bunch of dirt the whole way,” Brown said. “I thought the horse accepted it the second half of the race and ran up into it. When he got clear he was definitely more comfortable.”

Brown was not concerned that the 1:45.90 for 1 1/16 miles was the slowest Gotham of 11 run at 1 1/16 miles. Shagaf received an 87 Beyer Speed Figure for the performance.

“I’m not sure what to make of the final time,” he said. “I know visually I asked Shagaf ‘please do this’ and he did it. In what time he did it or by what margin of victory I can’t knock the horse. I don’t want to win by 10 and I don’t want to set a track record. If he did that I’d be throwing up right now, to be honest with you.”

Brown said the plan was always for Shagaf to run in the Wood as the colt won his debut over Aqueduct’s main track last November and he has trained most of his life at Belmont Park, where he will remain for the five weeks between the Gotham and Wood.

Also, Shagaf is owned by Sheikh Hamdan’s Shadwell Stable, which also owns leading Derby contender Mohaymen, who is pointing to the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park on April 2.

Brown could have more than one runner in the Wood. Flexibility, who won the Grade 3 Jerome and finished fourth in the Grade 3 Withers, is a candidate for the Wood. On Sunday, he worked a solid half-mile in 48.83 seconds with a final quarter in 23.39.

Flexibility’s Wood participation could depend on how Economic Model fares in Saturday’s Tampa Bay Derby. Both horses are owned by Seth Klarman and Bill Lawrence. Should Economic Model run well in Tampa, he will likely go to the Blue Grass and Flexibility will run in the Wood. If Economic Model does not run well, Flexibility will be considered for the Wood and the Blue Grass.

Leah Gyarmati, trainer of Gotham third-place finisher Adventist, thought her horse also overcame the bias to run well, finishing only two lengths behind Shagaf. Adventist tried to rally outside of Shagaf and seemed to drift out a path or two as Shagaf was moving to the outside. Once straightened away he was running on again.

“He moved over just a little bit at the same time Shagaf was moving out so it kind of slowed our momentum down,” Gyarmati said. “I’m not saying we win it if that doesn’t happen but you never know. We only got beat two lengths.”

Gyarmati believes the 1 1/8 miles of the Wood should help Adventist, who has been a little slow from the gate in his last two starts.

Jason Servis, the trainer of Sunny Ridge thought his horse “ran great. He was wide most of the way, giving seven pounds, and got beat three lengths. … I don’t think you could fault the horse.”

Servis said Sunny Ridge would be nominated to the Wood, but that he wouldn’t make a decision on whether to run him in that race for at least a week.

Meanwhile, trainer Eric Guillot said Laoban would ship back to California on Wednesday. Guillot said the Blue Grass “sometimes comes up lighter than the other” Derby preps and he feels Keeneland’s main track may favor speed more than Aqueduct’s main track.