Contender Stays Perfect With Win Over Alpha In Wood Memorial
Undefeated Resorts World Casino New York City Wood Memorial champion Gemologist departed Belmont Park at the crack of dawn Sunday morning, Apr. 8, and was expected to arrive at Palm Meadows training center by mid-afternoon to begin preparations for the May 5 Kentucky Derby.
Trainer Todd Pletcher said the three-year-old Tiznow colt would remain in Florida untilMay 1, when he would leave for Churchill Downs.
“He came out of the race really well,” said Pletcher by phone from Florida. “The tentative schedule is for him to breeze twice between now and the Derby, then fly to Kentucky on May 1. We’ll leave the option to call an audible if we so chose, but as long as we’re happy with the conditions down here, that’s the plan.”
Gemologist completed the 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.96, for which he earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure, best of three Derby preps run last Saturday, Apr. 7. Owned by WinStar Farm, for whom Pletcher won the 2010 Derby with Super Saver, Gemologist also boosted his graded stakes earnings to $703,855, placing him a solid sixth on the list of Derby hopefuls.
The field is limited to 20 threeyear olds based on graded stakes earnings. Another of Pletcher’s threeyear olds, El Padrino, is 23rd with $250,000.
Accompanying Gemologist on the flight to Florida was Broadway’s Alibi, winner of Saturday’s Grade 3 Comely Stakes.
“She also came out of her race well,” said Pletcher. “I have to talk with Mrs. Robsham and Anna Ford; we haven’t made a decision about the [May 4] Kentucky Oaks. Right now, we’re keeping an eye on everything.”
Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin had logistics on the brain on Easter Sunday morning as he pondered next steps on Wood Memorial runner-up Alpha’s path to the Kentucky Derby, plans for Emcee after a fourth-place Carter finish, and a variety of travel scenarios for dual Grade 1-winning filly It’s Tricky.
“WithAlpha we’re thinking about where we go, what we do, and how we get there, but we’re pointing for May 5,” McLaughlin said. “He came out of the race great. He did everything right.”
Godolphin Racing’s Alpha broke from the rail and finished a neck behind undefeated Gemologist in the Wood, and McLaughlin believes the Bernardini colt got a valuable education in the process.
“We went with no man in the gate with him,” McLaughlin said. “We decided probably the day before after talking to Roy [Williamson, head starter for NYRA]. Roy brought it up, which was good, and Ramon [Dominguez] had said the first time he rode him that he wants to fight the handler. We kind of hadn’t gotten on the same page to do it until we [drew] the one hole. Next to number one there’s an open gate, so the starter stood in there in case he needed some help. But he stood great, and he broke great. He almost broke on the lead. And then he checked hard in the first turn, but quickly recovered. Everything went great except the photo. Had we won, it would have been perfect, but we did pass many tests. Good in the gate, took dirt, ran great, belongs in the Derby. It was a real, true, great prep. “
After Alpha’s strong showing in the Wood, McLaughlin’s only question was when to send him to Churchill Downs for the Derby.
“We might go to Kentucky a little bit earlier is for the gate, because he had a bad experience there [when he placed 11th in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs last November],” McLaughlin said.
Plans for Emcee, It’s Tricky
The trainer’s other Wood Memorial Day stakes starter was Emcee, a Godolphin color-bearer who finished fourth in the Grade 1 Carter after getting left at the gate.
“He came back fine,” McLaughlin said. “I watched the replay over and over again this morning trying to figure out what happened and if you look at the head on, he went to his knees right when they sprung the latch. We were thinking Met Mile [Grade 1, May 28, Belmont Park] with him, but we’re not sure about that now.”
Finally, McLaughlin revealed that dual Grade 1 winner It’s Tricky was most likely headed to Aqueduct’s Grade 2, $200,000 Distaff Handicap run at seven furlongs this Saturday, Apr. 14. The Grade 1Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park on Friday, Apr. 13, had also been under serious consideration for the daughter of Mineshaft until travel plans grew-well, tricky.
“We had two options,” McLaughlin said. “We would have had to fly her this morning to Lexington and then ten hours on the van to Hot Springs, or fly to Lexington and leave her on the plane to West Palm, and then fly the next day to Hot Springs. She’s not a great traveler, so it’s most likely she’ll stay here, but it’s not a hundred percent.”
Zito gushes over Jackson Bend
The morning after capturing his second career Grade 1 victory in thrilling fashion in last Saturdya’s Carter Handicap, Jackson Bend was full of energy in his stall at Belmont Park.
“He looks perfect and is doing great,” said Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito, who confirmed that his five-year-old charge’s next target would be the Grade 1, $750,000Metropolitan Handicap on Memorial Day, Monday, May 28 at Belmont Park.
With his narrow nose triumph over Breeders’Cup Dirt Mile winner Caleb’s Posse in the Carter, the Robert LaPenta-owned Jackson Bend pushed his career earnings over $1.5 million, remained unbeaten in four starts at seven furlongs, and earned a litany of superlatives from his trainer.
“What an unbelievable performance. He has to be one of the gutsiest horses that I have ever trained,” said Zito, who continues to marvel at how Jackson’s Bend diminutive stature belies his talent level.
“If you look at him,” said Zito, “you ask yourself, ‘How can he perform this way?’ He’s incredible.”
Zito also reported that Casual Trick, who was vanned off after having breathing problems in the Wood Memorial, will be examined by a veterinarian that specializes in diagnosing breathing problems at some point within the next week.
“He’s feeling so good, his coat is perfect, his blood work was fabulous, but unfortunately he has some breathing problems,” Zito said. “We are going to bring in a special vet that will watch him breathe with a Dynamic Respiratory Scope. We need to correct the situation.”
The three-year-old son of Bernardini, also owned by LaPenta, displayed talent earlier in his career and went into an allowance race on Jan. 29 at Gulfstream Park favored over two horses that have experienced recent graded success. He finished eighth in that race.
“He went into the allowance race with Take Charge Indy and El Padrino as the favorite,” said Zito. “Those two horses went on to win the Florida Derby (Take Charge Indy) and Risen Star (El Padrino). We have a really nice horse and he is perfectly sound.”
Zito added that his vets had given him clearance to race Casual Trick in the Wood Memorial after he scoped well and looked great after his most recent work.
“Why would I want to put him on the plane and run him [if he wasn’t sound]?” Zito said. “This is a really good, talented horse. We have to get to the bottom of this.”
Targeting the Met Mile
Caleb’s Posse and Shackleford, the respective second- and thirdplace finishers in yesterday’s Carter, were reported by their trainers to be under consideration for the Met Mile after exiting last Saturday’s race in good shape.
In the Carter, Caleb’s Posse’s late run came up a nose short to Jackson Bend. It was the second consecutive tough beat at Aqueduct for the 2011 Grade 1 Foxwoods King’s Bishop and Grade 1 Breeders’Cup Dirt Mile winner, who was second by a neck in the Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap on Mar. 3.
“He’s doing good,” said Von Hemel. “He’s on a flight to Kentucky right now, and then he’ll go to Oaklawn.”
Von Hemel said he and owners McNeill Stables and Cheyenne Stables are pondering the Met Mile for Caleb’s Posse’s next start, but trainer said it’s too early to begin seeing the race as a rematch between the Carter’s first three finishers.
“I think the Met Mile would be under very serious consideration [for Caleb’s Posse], but it’s too early to speculate on who’s going to the race. We’ll have a better idea of who is going a couple of weeks before the race.”
Trainer Dale Romans lauded Shackleford for his performance in the Carter, in which he set the pace and yielded in the stretch to finish third by 1 1/2 lengths. It was the 2011 Grade 1 Preakness Stakes winner’s first start at seven furlongs since his maiden victory in the fall of 2010.
“I thought he ran well,” said Romans of Shackleford, who on Sunday morning was en route to the trainer’s base at Churchill Downs. “It was a fast race with three fast horses. He didn’t get beat far, and he showed he can run with some of the fastest horses in the country.”
Romans, who trains Shackleford for Michael Lauffer and W.D. Cubbedge, said he plans to keep the colt in one-turn races and that there’s a “strong possibility” the Met Mile will be his next start.
“We didn’t duck anybody last year,” said Romans, “and we’re not going to duck anybody this year.”
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