The Gotham Stakes will be run for the 65th time Saturday at Aqueduct and a full field will line up with Kentucky Derby aspirations overflowing. The Grade 3 fixture offers a $300,000 purse and the winner will earn 50 points toward running at Churchill Downs in about two months.
Traditionally, the Gotham Stakes is a prep for the Wood Memorial and over the decades, superstars have graced the winner’s circle after the Gotham Stakes was completed. The extremely fast Dr. Fager won this race in 1967 and six years later Secretariat won the race before his Triple Crown assault.
Chad Brown won the Gotham Stakes last year with Shagaf and he will be looking for that déjà vu feeling with his runner Apartfromthecrowd, who split the cast in the Withers last time and needs to pick it up. The racer still must be respected because he is trained by the sensational Brown.
J Boys Echo was far from disgraced in his inner strip debut but he catches the same pair that just handled him rather easily. He was compromised by a bad post in the Delta Jackpot last year and a lot of horses just don’t take to the surface at Delta Downs. His trainer Dale Romans has a ton of confidence in this runner and the youngster figures to be making a belated impact if at all.
Gaetano took time to figure it out and he was fully extended to win his last race by a nose. This one broke his maiden in a claimer so his ability is suspect.
Miggsy has fired every time but was life and death to earn his diploma last time by a scant nose. He is trained by Rudy Rodriquez, who is hitting at a 25% clip at Aqueduct this meeting.
El Areeb was the beaten chalk in the debut, caught the slop in his next race, but is perfect since. He has trained fast for this engagement. One of his best assets is that he has what could be controlling speed but he proved he can track the pace and still perform. He has extended in his four wins including the impressive Withers Stakes last time.
Gleenrichment is another trained by Rodriquez and would expect him to be the long-fused component of the pair.
True Timber flashed some semblance of speed last time but it’s hard to see him making an easy lead her. He has won on this inner strip at Aqueduct but he was no challenge for El Areeb last time.
Californian So Conflated must invent a trip but he is talented. Trained by Doug O’Neill, So Conflated took the $100,000 Cal Derby in his last race.
Cloud Computing was bet like a good thing in his debut and he sure did not disappoint. He also showed agility to overcame a poor start. His blood is solid as his dam was Grade 2 placed and earned over $250,000.
Action Everyday graduated at the demanding distance of seven furlongs and proved it was no fluke beating optional claimers last time. Although his dam was sprint only, she took several stakes, was never out of the money and earned nearly $250,000 in six career starts.
With ten in this field, having enough speed to gain solid position could prove pivotal to victory. At this time of year, any of these horses cannot make a misstep or their chances of running in the Kentucky Derby goes up in smoke.
There is not a ton of true zip in this edition of the Gotham Stakes. Miggsy sat second early in his last race and could be fairly close up again. True Timber made the lead in his last race but it was a moderate pace. Cloud Computing is coming out a sprint and often times runners in this situation show velocity with a longer distance in front of them. Action Everyday is not exactly a bettor’s dream since he is strung up outside but one could make a case that his rider Rajiv Maragh will be offensively minded.
The race really seems to set up ideally for El Areeb. He has flashed some of the best speed in the field as he went :45 and change winning his stakes debut in his 2016 finale. He showed he could adapt to an off track when he took the Jerome from the two-hole and he rated in third before pulling away in the Withers.
Options are always good, no matter what the subject. El Areeb is the one to beat.
Gotham Stakes Rolls at Aqueduct
