The $200,000 Withers Stakes for 3-year-olds tops an unusually robust stakes-laden card on Friday at Aqueduct.
We don’t normally see five stakes stacked up on a weekday Big A card at this time of year. But then, there has been nothing normal about this brutally frigid winter in New York City.
Four of the stakes were originally slated for Jan. 31, but the deep freeze wiped out the weekend races. So, the Withers, along with the $150,000 Toboggan, the $135,000 Ruthless, and the $135,000 Ladies, landed here along with the $135,000 Interborough that was originally on the calendar for Jan. 24.
The stakes were redrawn, and the delay cost the Withers one runner: Project Ace, who defected to Gulfstream Park to run third in the Holy Bull Stakes (G3).
That leaves a field of seven in the 1 1/8 miles contest that awards the winner 20 qualifying points toward a berth in the Kentucky Derby (G1).
Four of the runners are stepping up to stakes company fresh from maiden wins. Grittiness, one of the top contenders, is still looking for his first victory.
Only the two Parx-based horses—Mailata and Star Sweeper—have beaten winners. Of the two, Mailata is the most intriguing.
The Pennsylvania-bred has reeled off three straight wins at Parx, including stakes victories in The Pennsylvania Nursery over state breds and a 19-length romp over two rivals in the Future Stars Stakes at the end of December.
He is trained by Butch Reid, who has a knack for developing these winter wonders. Reid owns a pair of Withers victories with Afleet Again (2010) and Uncle Heavy (2024).
Mailata could be the latest in that line. The colt is a homebred for Cash Is King LLC, best known as the owners of Afleet Alex, winner of the Arkansas Derby (G1), the Preakness Stakes (G1) after nearly falling, and the Belmont Stakes (G1) in 2004.
Mailata is 3-for-3 since Reid added blinkers. So far, that is the key that unlocked the puzzle.
“It really seems to have sharpened up his focus, and he’s really paying attention to what he’s doing on the track,” Reid said.
As for the Future Stars romp, Reid said it wasn’t as easy as it looks on paper.
“He didn’t come away real clean, but I liked the way he rated behind horses,” he said. “When the jock asked him, he moved forward handily so he was really on top of things that day.”
This will be the third stakes try for Star Sweeper, the other Parx-based colt. He took a drubbing in his two prior stakes at Delaware Park and Laurel, a record that does not inspire confidence.
Trainer Chad Brown took most of his top 3-year-olds south to winter in Florida and left a pair of maiden winners behind to contest stakes like this. You can make a case for either colt based on potential more than accomplishment.
Schoolyardsuperman was a flashy winner in early December, drawing off to a five-length win at a mile. This will be his first try around two turns.
Ottinho, the other Brown runner, already passed the two-turn test in his maiden win. Two-time reigning champion jockey Flavien Prat was named to ride last weekend. Prat will pass on the rescheduled Withers, so Jose Lezcano gets the mount.
Trainer Todd Pletcher has won this race three times, and he sends out Grittiness, the aforementioned maiden. Yes, he is 0-for-4, but that last effort was a respectable effort to outrun his 55-1 odds and finish fifth in the Remsen Stakes (G2).
Let’s put on our mittens, a warm hat, and pour a cup of hot chocolate to make our selections.
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.
