Fifty years ago, the Secretariat added some heat to a cold New York winter by using Aqueduct race track as his launch pad to wipe out the Triple Crown.
The famous “Big Red of Meadow Stable” won the Bay Shore Stakes (G3 at the time) and Gotham Stakes (G2) at Big A before finishing third at the Ozone Park track in the Wood Memorial Stakes (G1), section His final preparation before dominating the American classics.
Back then, New York was the road to the Triple Crown with Kentucky Derby (G1) winners such as Foolish Pleasure (1975), Bold Forbes (1976), Seattle Slew (1977) and Pleasant Colony (1981) playing the roles. main in the Big Apple before enjoying Triple Crown glory at Churchill Downs.
However, as time went on, interest in the New York subs dwindled as Gulfstream Park, Fair Grounds Racecourse & Slotsand Oaklawn Park has become known as the winter destination for top barns and their best 3-year-old prospects.
Some rough years culminated with Wood Memorial being demoted to Tier 2 status in 2017, but there has been a recent resurgence in the use of one or more of the four Kentucky Derby prep courts. of the Big Apple as the preparation site for the Triple Crown.
While the Kentucky Derby winner hasn’t raced in New York in 3rd place since 2003, when Funny Cide became the third New York runner in four years to win the opening slot of the Triple Crown, last year was a huge success for the Empire State’s Road to Triple Crown. Wood Memorial has produced winners of both Preakness Stakes (G1) and Belmont Stakes (G1) who are Vote early who won Withers Stakes (G3) and finished second in Wood, won Preakness and Wood won Mo Donegal prevailed in the Belmont Stakes.
Illustrating the renewed interest in the road to the New York classics, Early Voting is the second New York runner to win the Preakness since 2017 (Cloud computing 2017 is different), while Mo Donegal is the second NY prep product since 2019 to dominate the Belmont Stakes (also Sir Winston in 2019).
“It was a huge achievement last year,” said Frank Gabriel, senior vice president of racing operations for the New York Racing Association. “New York has always been a good route to the Kentucky Derby and last year we had some very good horses competing in our series, with horses from Florida and Kentucky. That very well reflected on our winter program We have great wallets in the winter and when you have trainers and stables here like Todd Pletcher, Chad Brown and Bill Mott at that time in years, that’s going to help the program and get you the kind of horse you want in those races.”
Four monthly prep sessions for 3-year-olds at Aqueduct starting January 7 with $150,000 Jerome Stakes per mile. Followed by Withers on February 4 at 1 1/8 miles twice. Jerome provided 10-4-3-2-1 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby for the top five finishers and Withers 20-8-6-4-2, with Withers providing the coach with early insight February on their horse’s ability at nine distances as opposed to waiting until April and the final nationwide prep.
“The Withers can answer some questions about two turns. If a horse handles it, it will give you a reason to return to Wood on the same track and provide an early indication if a horse has can go a quarter mile of the Battle of the Kentucky Derby,” said Gabriel.
The series ended with the March 4 Gotham Stakes (G3) returning a mile (50-20-15-10-5), followed by the prep for New York’s definitive Kentucky Derby, Wood. on April 8 at 1/8 miles (100-40-30-20-10).
Brown, who has registered for the eighth consecutive year-long coaching title in New York in 2022, is undeterred at the prospect of coaching a Triple Crown top contender in colder weather and has achieved great success using the New York preparatory exercises. In 2017, he sent Cloud Computing to finish second in Gotham and third in Wood, skipping the Kentucky Derby and rewarded with a Preakness win for the four-time Eclipse Award winner’s original Triple Crown score. His second classic win came to Early Vote, who also thrived in the frigid New York winters while most of his steady buddies trained in Florida.
“We did it a few times,” he said of the preparations at the Aqueduct. “We love to train in New York. We’ve just finished our eighth season as the premier New York warehouse. This is our home ground and we try to be involved year-round as well as use it. facilities in New York to get my horses ready and everything went well.”
Brown will be active in New York series’ opening, send Klaravich Stables’ neural network in field eight for Jerome.
A hybrid of New York Cloud Computing, Neural Network is an impressive, five-time winner of its November 13 career debut at Aqueduct in a special weight test for for a seven-feather girl compared to her friends on a muddy track.
“I really enjoyed his debut,” Brown said. “He acts like a horse that should win with longer distances, so I’m proud of how he won at shorter distances and I look forward to stretching him out.”
Although he has a long way to go to match the achievements of his classic award-winning senior, the dark brown or dark brown pony has some notable similarities that he he shared with his dad, who started the season for the first time in February of the season 3 years old. .
“He’s kind of like his father,” Brown said, “so we’re hoping to follow some of the same stereotypes as his dad, stay in New York and go the Triple Crown. We’ll see him. how it develops”. “He had a few little things that, like his father, kept us from running him in the summer, but we took our time. He found his footing and started moving forward. forward in the fall, so we ended up putting him on the roster.”
Get out Road of Crying Mare Lapinski, Neural Network was purchased for $120,000 from the Legacy Bloodstock shipment at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale.
New York breeders played a prominent role in the results with half the field coming from the Empire State.
The other three New York crosses all have stock information, headed by a cross of Chester Sr. and Mary Broman Arctic Pride who came in second was half the length of the open company in Remsen Stakes (G2) at 1/8 mile on a sloppy track. Gray’s son blur coached by Linda Rice won the one-mile Sleepy Hollow Stakes award on his previous attempt.
Rice said of Remsen: “I think he was at a bit of a disadvantage because he was stuck to the railing in a puddle, but it was a great effort. “He hasn’t been beaten far and has a long way to go back to third.”
Rice is about to have a stellar fall meet at the Aqueduct, in which she’s top coach (20 wins) and owner (10).
Mr. Amore Stable’s crossbreed Andiamo and Florence a New York hybrid of Sightstown , also experienced classified bets, finished fourth in Champagne Stakes (G1) at a flat mile. Second place in the New York Breeders’ Futurity as coach Kelly Breen’s 1-2 favorite on the fifth attempt and most recently, he’s half-brother to the $2.7 million earner. la the fire of Florence get out Langfuhr mare My Every Wish has taken his solitary start beyond the 6 1/2 spans in Champagne.
Purebred New England Seacoast total bank a New York hybrid of central bank , had the highest earnings in the field, thanks to a December 17 win in a $500,000 New York Stallion Series bet at Aqueduct. Coached by Jimmy Ferraro, the General Banker raced 8 1/2 on muddy roads in the seven-mile bet to his first win in eight career starts.
BG’s stables Knights of Lugan , who finished third in the race to claim the November 26 allowance option at Churchill Downs, was the only other starter not to run in his final race. the son of gold coin Trained by Michael McCarthy, Lugan Knight came in third after winning lineup January 1st Smarty Jones Stock winner at Oaklawn Parkon that most recent boot.
Saturday’s 10 Race Big A Card will also include $150,000 in Queens County Bets on Older Horses that have been rescheduled from December 31 when the second half of the card was canceled due to fog.
Item: Jerome S.
Aqueduct race trackSaturday, January 7, 2023, Race No. 8
- STK
- 1m
- dust
- $150,000
- 3 years old
- 3:16 pm (local)
