New York’s first stakes of the New Year will begin the final countdown for a very old racetrack. The Aqueduct, which dates to 1894, will close permanently on June 28th.
Saturday’s start of the Triple Crown trail goes back even further into the 19th century. The Jerome Stakes, first run in 1866, is America’s second-oldest stakes, behind only the Travers Stakes (G1).
It’s named for Leonard Jerome (1817-1891), one of the original movers and shakers in New York racing. He built Jerome Park, which hosted the first 23 Belmont Stakes, and he was even more significant as a dam sire. His daughter Jennie was the mother of Winston Churchill, one of the most important politicians of the 20th century.
The Jerome is a one-turn mile, which rarely leads to success at the Kentucky Derby (G1) distance of 1¼ miles. The last horse to hit the Jerome-Derby double was Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000, although recent Jerome winners Independence Hall, Mind Control, and Firenze Fire became standout sprinter-milers.
It offers Derby qualifying points on a 10-5-3-2-1 scale to the first five finishers. The other stakes on the card, the 53rd running of the Busanda for 3-year-old fillies, is more generous, handing out 20, 10, 6, 4, and 2 points.
My World, trained by A-lister Brad Cox, is a course-and-distance winner at the Big A, where he’s 2-for-2. His 3½-length runaway in the Nashua Stakes points him out, as does his noble pedigree (by 2021 Belmont hero Essential Quality out of a mare by perennial leading sire Into Mischief). My World drew post 3 in a field of five with morning-line odds of x-x.
Balboa (post 4, 8-5) is 0-for-2 around two turns but has the best early speed. He drops in class from the 1 1/8-mile Remsen Stakes (G2), where he led to the midstretch before fading to third.
“The waters continue to get deeper,” trainer Brittany Russell said, “but he has the speed, and I think going from three-quarters to nine furlongs last time was a big ask. He handled it pretty well, but I kind of like the cutback for him.”
Mailata (post 5, 4-1), named for 6-foot-8, 365-pound Philadelphia Eagles lineman Jordan Mailata, ships in from Parx for shrewd Robert Reid. He comes in off two front-running victories there, both by daylight (2½, 3½ lengths).
Like the Jerome, the 53rd Busanda has a small field (six). It’s named for the dam of Hall of Famer Buckpasser and is a one-turn mile after being run at 1 1/8 miles the past seven years. This early Kentucky Oaks (G1) prep produced the standout Princess of Sylmar, who won it in 2013 before taking the Oaks, Coaching Club American Oaks (G1), and Alabama Stakes (G1).
Kenny McPeek, who swept the 2024 Oaks and Derby, trains Shilling (post 3, 2-1), a speedy, course-and-distance winner at Aqueduct. After dominating the Tempted Stakes there in November, she backed up to fourth after a troubled trip in the 1 1/8-mile Demoiselle Stakes (G2). The turnback and class relief should move her forward.
High-percentage Maryland trainer Brittany Russell has a major threat in Dazzling Dame (post 5, 5-2). She’s 3-for-4 with two victories at a mile (both around two turns) and wins at three different tracks.
Todd Pletcher’s Believable (post 6, 4-1) was a distant fifth in the Demoiselle after finishing four lengths behind Shilling when second in the Tempted. Superstar Flavien Prat picks up the mount on the royally bred daughter of Curlin. Expect improvement.
Ed McNamara is an award-winning racing writer who has covered the sport since 1981 for The Bergen (N.J.) Record, Newsday, ESPN, Thorocap, and USRacing. He is the author of Cajun Racing: From the Bush Tracks to the Triple Crown and Racing Around the World, and a contributor to The Most Glorious Crown and The Racetracks of America. He has also written for racing publications in France and Italy.
