He’s not alone in being overshadowed by Eclipse champion and stablemate Uncle Mo, but Saturday afternoon at Aqueduct Racetrack, Stay Thirsty will step into the limelight when he heads a field of nine 3-year-olds in the 58th running of the Grade 3, $250,000 Gotham, New York’s first major prep for the Kentucky Derby.

Stay Thirsty will be making his 2011 debut for owner Mike Repole and trainer Todd Pletcher – the same duo behind early Derby favorite Uncle Mo – as the 9-5 morning line choice in the 1 1/16-mile Gotham, in which he will be ridden by New York’s leading jockey, Ramon Dominguez. Off since finishing fifth behind Uncle Mo in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last November, Stay Thirsty arrived at Pletcher’s Belmont Park barn Wednesday morning from Florida, where he has been training with his more celebrated counterpart.

“I think when Stay Thirsty gets into the starting gate Saturday, he’s going to look to his left, look to his right, and have a big smile on his face when he sees Uncle Mo isn’t there,” said Repole. “You know how passionate I am about horse racing, and I’m always happy for the horse whether it’s a $7,500 claimer or Uncle Mo. But if ever there was a horse I’m going to root for, it’s Stay Thirsty. I really want to see him win this race.”

It was a year ago that Repole paid $500,000 for Stay Thirsty at the Fasig-Tipton Calder Selected 2-Year-Olds In Training sale, confident the son of Bernardini would find success going a distance of ground at 3. After finishing a solid second to Sovereign Default in his first start at Belmont Park last July, Stay Thirsty continued to surprise his connections with a front-running 5 ½-length maiden score at Saratoga Race Course, and next finished second to Boys At Tosconova in the Grade 1 Three Chimneys Hopeful at the Spa.

Returned to training on January 30 at Palm Meadows training center, Stay Thirsty has worked several times in company with Uncle Mo, with the pair most recently going five furlongs in 1:00.60.

“He’s been on an identical schedule as Uncle Mo, and in the three breezes he’s had with him he’s held his own,” said Pletcher. “He’s handled each assignment we’ve given him.”

Saturday’s assignment means facing eight other sophomores whose connections have a May 7 trip to Louisville on their minds, including the streaking Toby’s Corner, who will be going for his fourth straight win in the Gotham, which will be run as the 10th of 11 races Saturday.

Trained by Graham Motion, the late-running Bellamy Road colt won a pair of races at Laurel Park before heading north to the Big A, where he was an impressive two-length winner of the 1 1/16-mile Whirlaway over a muddy, sealed track on February 5.

“I think each of his races has been somewhat of a progression,” said Motion, who trains Toby’s Corner for Dianne Cotter. “He kind of got to gawking at the eighth pole in the Whirlaway, as he had in his previous race, but he got it together and kind of won nicely. Every race is a step up, and I hope he shows he belongs with these calibre horses.”

Eddie Castro is back aboard Toby’s Corner, the 5-2 second choice on the morning line, from post position 4.

Also returning from the Whirlaway is third-place finisher Preachintothedevil, a New York-bred son of Pulpit who was making his first start in open company in the race. Winner of the Champagneforashley on New Year’s Day at the Big A, the Gary Contessa-trained colt was a 7 ¼-length winner first time out and third in the Damon Runyon in his second start, and the trainer is hoping he’ll show even more in the Gotham, the traditional prep for Aqueduct’s Grade 1, $750,000 Wood Memorial on April 7.

“I think that any horse that runs well in the Gotham can be considered a Derby horse,” said Contessa. “It’s a graded race, and everyone in this race is probably testing the Triple Crown waters.”

Junior Alvarado rides Preachintothedevil, who drew post position 7 and was listed at 6-1 on the morning line.

Also lining up for the Gotham are a pair of recent maiden winners: Nacho Saint, who won at the Big A on January 28 after having compiled a 0-3-0 record as a juvenile, including a second-place finish in the Grade 2 Sanford at Saratoga last August; and The Fed Eased, second in his Aqueduct debut on January 2 and a 7 ¼-length winner on January 25.

Nacho Saint, 6-1 on the morning line, drew post position 2 with Joe Bravo aboard, while
The Fed Eased, 8-1 on the morning line, drew the rail under Jose Valdivia, Jr.

Rounding out the field are Starship Caesar, winner of his two most recent starts in Florida; Isn’t He Perfect, who will be making his stakes debut; Norman Asbjornson, a gate scratch from the Whirlaway, and Dawly, who has won two straight for trainer Steve Asmussen since being claimed.

The field for the Grade 3, $250,000 Gotham: