New Yorkers took the week to dig out and clean up after the latest in a string of seemingly endless winter storms.
The proverbial “silver lining” is in sight with a favorable weather forecast of sunny skies and warmer temperatures for the weekend. That’s welcome news at Aqueduct, which has struggled to keep the racing program intact in the face of one brutal wave of snow and freezing temperatures after another.
Here’s hoping for a bright and sunny Saturday for the $300,000 Gotham Stakes (G3) for 3-year-olds going 1 mile.
The Gotham is an important test on the Road to the Kentucky Derby (G1) as the winner bags 50 Derby qualifying points.
The Gotham is the best, and perhaps final, chance for Balboa to prove he ranks among the Kentucky Derby Contenders. Maryland-based Brittany Russell scratched Balboa from last weekend’s Miracle Wood Stakes at Laurel in favor of this more definitive test.
This will be Balboa’s third straight Big A appearance. The colt, who started his career in California with Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, made a favorable impression in his New York debut, the Remsen Stakes (G2) last December. He ran third that day behind Paladin and Renegade, two highly regarded Derby prospects.
Paladin went on to capture the Risen Star Stakes (G2) at the Fair Grounds while Renegade won the Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, making the Remsen a “key race” for handicappers.
That classy company earned Balboa the role of 7-10 favorite in his most recent effort, the Jerome Stakes last month. Disappointing is the way to characterize a second-place finish where he was overtaken by My World in the final sixteenth of the mile.
“As disappointed as you are to lose, you still have to appreciate the effort,” Russell said. “The race before I thought was a good effort too, and he got beat by good horses that day.”
True enough, but we have reached the stage where horses can’t take a backward step if they are Derby bound. The Jerome, against only three rivals, was a move in the wrong direction.
So, we are going to look elsewhere for our top choice and that leads us to Right to Party for trainer Kenny McPeek. This will be his third start, all at Aqueduct. He was a rallying third in his debut to Iron Honor, who is also in this field and the 6-5 morning-line favorite for trainer Chad Brown.
That race was only 6 furlongs. In the next outing, Right to Party stretched out to a mile and handled it in style with a 1 ½ length victory.
This will be his toughest assignment yet, but proven ability to handle this distance makes him a contender at a potentially sweet price.
Now all we need is a little help on the weather front. Are clear skies and moderate temperatures too much to ask for Gotham Day? We hope not.
The picks: 1 Right to Party 2 Balboa 3 Iron Honor
1 Balboa (Sheldon Russell, Brittany Russell), 6-1
2 Hammond (Saffie Joseph, Jr., Jaime Rodriguez), 5-1
3 Crown the Buckeye (Ricardo Santana, Jr., Mike Maker), 4-1
4 Fourth and One (Jose Lezcano, Jeremiah Englehart), 20-1
5 Right to Party (Chris Elliott, Kenny McPeek), 8-1
6 Iron Honor (Manny Franco, Chad Brown), 6-5
7 Exhibition Only (Ruben Silvera, Rudy Rodriguez), 15-1
8 Creole Chrome (Jaime Torres, Joe Sharp), 12-1
9 Dirty Rich (Peter Miler, Ramon Vazquez), 10-1
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
