Chelsea Durand Photo

​Jerkens undecided on next start for G3 Gotham winner Weyburn

by NYRA Press Office

• Jerkens undecided on next start for G3 Gotham winner Weyburn
• Chateau earns 100 BSF in G3 Tom Fool score
• Busy Saturday for Brown brigade; G2 Wood Memorial contender Risk Taking on the work tab
• Miss Brazil exits runner-up Busher effort in good order; unlikely to stretch out in future
• Thomas barn off to a flying start in 2021; Nicky the Vest to work Monday for G2 Wood Memorial
• All-stakes Cross Country Pick 5 pays $63K; handles nearly $150K

Chiefswood Stables’ Weyburn earned a career-best 95 Beyer Speed Figure for his dramatic nose score over Crowded Trade in Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham, a one-turn mile for sophomores at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The Ontario homebred, trained by Jimmy Jerkens and piloted by Trevor McCarthy, exited the gate at 46-1. He bucked those odds and earned 50 qualifying points from his upset score towards the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on May 1 at Churchill Downs.

Weyburn made his sophomore debut in the Gotham after a third-out December 5 maiden victory over sloppy and sealed conditions at the Queens County oval.

The dark bay son of multiple champion producer Pioneerof the Nile rated in second from his outside post just a half-length off pacesetter Freedom Fighter, dueled to the inside of Crowded Trade down the lane and got his nose on the wire first to complete the journey in 1:38.70. 

Jerkens said Weyburn was in good order on Sunday morning.

“He looked good and sound and it looked like he ate up pretty well,” said Jerkens, whose lone Derby starter Wicked Strong, finished fourth in 2014. “He might be a little subdued and tired, but he’ll bounce back quickly.”

The next and final local qualifying Derby prep is the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino on April 3 at Aqueduct, offering 100-40-20-10 qualifying points.

Jerkens said he was still unsure as to whether or not his newly minted stakes winner would target a two-turn debut in the nine-furlong event.

“We’ll nominate to all of the obvious races, but we don’t know what we’re doing yet,” Jerkens said.

Weyburn is not Triple Crown nominated but Jerkens said he will likely be supplemented for $6,000. Any horse not nominated to the Triple Crown can be made eligible by March 29.

Weyburn is out of the A.P. Indy mare Sunday Affair, who also produced Chiefswood Stables’ homebred and multiple graded stakes winner Yorkton.

Jerkens said multiple graded stakes winner Rocketry will arrive at his Belmont Park stable on Monday from Centennial Farm in Middleburg, Virginia.

The durable 7-year-old son of Hard Spun was last seen ending a nine-race slump when coming from ten lengths off the pace to win the 1 5/8-mile Grade 2 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance on November 6 at Keeneland.

Jerkens said Rocketry will target the 12-furlong Grade 2, $400,000 Brooklyn on June 4 at Belmont Park. He was a close second to Marconi in the 2019 edition of the Brooklyn.

“The Brooklyn is in the plan, but how we get there I’m not sure,” Jerkens said.

Bred in Kentucky by Gainesway Farm, Rocketry is out of the Smart Strike mare Smart Farming and was purchased by his owners for $450,000 at the 2015 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Chateau earns 100 BSF in G3 Tom Fool score

Michael Dubb’s Chateau earned a career-best 100 Beyer for his gate-to-wire triumph in his graded stakes debut in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Tom Fool Handicap at Aqueduct.

Trained by Rob Atras, the 6-year-old Flat Out gelding shrugged off pressure from Happy Farm following a swift opening quarter-mile in 22.81 seconds and continued to find more, opening up by 6 ½-lengths at the stretch call for meet-leading rider Kendrick Carmouche. Chateau stayed on strong to the wire for a 3 1/2-length score over a late-closing Wendell Fong, stopping the clock for six furlongs in 1:12.10.

"It was a big effort,” said Atras. “I think that's the first time I've had a horse run that high a number. He came out of the race really good.”

In January, Atras saddled Sanford J. Goldfarb, Irwin Goldfarb and the Estate of Ira Davis’ American Power to a prominent score in the Grade 3 Toboggan, a seven-furlong sprint for older horses at the Big A.

With Saturday’s victory, Atras now has two contenders for the Grade 1, $300,000 Carter Handicap, a seven-furlong sprint on the undercard of the Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino on April 3 at Aqueduct.

"We'll probably nominate both and then consider our options," said Atras. "I don't know if that's the spot we want for American Power just yet and I don't know if Chateau wants to go that far. It's one of those things where we could have both or we could have none."

American Power has won his last three starts, beginning with a head score in a claiming mile at Belmont in October. He followed with a 3 ¼-length win in a seven-furlong optional-claiming event in December at the Big A.

The 6-year-old Power Broker chestnut worked a half-mile in 50.21 Sunday on the Belmont dirt training track.

"He put in a more serious work this morning. He went a really nice half-mile by himself in 50 and one," said Atras. "He's a horse that appreciates a little more time off between races. He runs hard and he leaves it all out on the track. Sometimes, it takes him a little more time to recover, especially off his last two efforts."

A memorable Saturday for Atras also saw Nice Guys Stables, Jorge Casal, and Sanford J. Goldfarb's Not Phar Now notch a half-length score in a seven-furlong allowance sprint for state-breds. The 4-year-old American Pharoah gelding, bred by Chester and Mary Broman, was making his first start for Atras off a $40,000 claim from an impressive 12 1/4-length score in a seven-furlong state-bred maiden claiming event in February.

With Carmouche up, Not Phar Now made every pole a winning one establishing a six-length lead at the stretch call and holding off a late charge from Financialstability. The victory earned a career-best 75 Beyer.

"He'd been training really good. I'm glad it wasn't seven furlongs and a few steps or we might not have held on," said Atras, with a laugh. "I love the way he ran the seven furlongs when he broke his maiden and I thought this race was perfect for him. Seven furlongs might be his max looking at the race yesterday, but it is a very tiring track right now."

On Saturday, Atras will look for more stakes success when he sends out Dennis Narlinger's Sadie Lady in the $100,000 Correction, a six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up.

Atras boasts a record of 78-14-15-17 at the Big A winter meet and is tied for third in the trainer standings with Chad Brown heading into Sunday’s card.

On Friday, Atras noted his appreciation for the significant purse increases recently announced for the upcoming 48-day Belmont Park spring/summer meet slated for Thursday, April 22 through Sunday, July 1.

"It's a good program throughout, from the bottom up," said Atras. "I have a diverse stable. I have horses that run at the lower levels, in the middle and some at the upper. And that balance changes throughout the year and horses may drop off a notch or climb the ladder, so with the purse increases you can make money throughout the whole claiming program."

The multiple graded stakes winning conditioner said he is also hoping to take advantage of a "Ship & Win" program for horses based at Oaklawn Park that ship to compete at Aqueduct and Belmont Park.

Horses that made their previous start at Oaklawn may be able to take advantage of the program, which includes a 30 percent purse bonus for their first start for horses who last ran at Oaklawn in 2021 before shipping to New York. NYRA will also provide a $1,500 stipend for a start during either the Aqueduct spring or Belmont spring/summer meets, excluding stakes races, for eligible horses.

"I've had a few guys reach out to me looking to claim horses, and I'm also really interested in the Oaklawn program with the incentives," said Atras. "I'd like to get a few horses out of there with either current clients or new ones. I hope I can pick up a few more horses before the meet starts at Belmont."

Busy Saturday for Brown brigade; Risk Taking on the work tab

Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown enjoyed a perfect in-the-money performance from four starters on Saturday’s Gotham Day card at the Big A.

Klaravich Stables’ Search Results made a victorious stakes debut in the one-turn mile $250,000 Busher Invitational with stablemate The Grass Is Blue landing third for owner Louis Lazzinnaro.

Search Results was more forwardly placed than she was in her career debut triumph in January at Gulfstream and tracked a length off favored Miss Brazil in second. The dark bay daughter of Flatter dueled with the stubborn pacesetter down the stretch and establishing command inside the sixteenth-pole to win by a half-length, producing an 84 Beyer.

The Grass Is Blue, winner of the last-out Busanda on January 31, rallied belatedly to complete the trifecta.   
"Both fillies looked great this morning,” said Brown’s assistant trainer Dan Stupp. “Obviously, Search Results ran a big race. She seems to be one that’s progressing the right way.”

In taking the Busher, Search Results earned 50 qualifying points toward the Grade 1, $1 million Kentucky Oaks on April 30 at Churchill Downs and is currently No. 4 on the leaderboard. The Grass Is Blue earned 10 points with her third-place effort, elevating her to No. 9 with a total of 20 points. The daughter of Broken Vow earned ten points when taking the Busanda.

Stupp said Brown had not yet indicated if both fillies would race back in the final local Oaks qualifier, the Grade 2, $250,000 Gazelle on April 3 at nine furlongs with 100-40-20-10 qualifying points on the line.

“I would think one or both would go in that direction,” Stupp said. “We know The Grass Is Blue will go that far. Search Results did just win going a mile so the natural progression would be a mile and an eighth.”

While Brown and Klaravich came out on the winning end in the Busher, the same could not be said for the Grade 3 Gotham where the trainer-owner combo ran a respective second and third with maiden winner Crowded Trade and stakes-winning post-time favorite Highly Motivated.

A son of More Than Ready, Crowded Trade was an impressive off-the-pace winner of his January 28 career debut going six furlongs at Aqueduct and found himself in a more prominent position early on, sitting 1 ½ lengths in third off pacesetter Freedom Fighter, Crowded Trade briefly took command in mid-stretch but was outdueled by 46-1 longshot Weyburn.

“Crowded Trade validated his maiden win and moved forward a lot in his second start,” Stupp said. “He broke better and put himself in the race better. He didn’t quite get the job done so we’re disappointed he didn’t get the win but we're very pleased with the progression from first start to second start.”

Making his 3-year-old debut, Highly Motivated bobbled slightly at the start and displayed a moderate kick in the stretch, finishing 1 ¾ lengths back in third. The Gotham was his first start since taking the Nyquist on November 6 at Keeneland.

“I thought he ran great off the bench,” Stupp said. “He got in a little trouble in the first quarter mile of the race and finished up nicely. I think he’ll move forward off the race.”

Crowded Trade catapulted himself to ninth on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 20 points from his Gotham effort, while Highly Motivated, No. 21, earned ten points.

The next and final local prep for the Grade 1, $3 million Kentucky Derby on May 1 at Churchill Downs is the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino on April 3 going nine furlongs, which offers 100-40-20-10 qualifying points.

Brown already has Grade 3 Withers winner Risk Taking, who worked a half-mile in 49 seconds flat on Saturday morning, pointing to the Wood Memorial.

“He worked great,” Stupp said. “He’s on target for the Wood.”

Miss Brazil exits runner-up Busher effort in good order; unlikely to stretch out in future

Team D and Madaket Stables’ Miss Brazil deftly handled the most challenging race of her young career on Saturday, giving Search Results everything she could handle before being bested in the final sixteenth of a mile in a runner-up effort by a half-length in the $250,000 Busher Invitational going a one-turn mile at Aqueduct.

Trainer Tony Dutrow saw Miss Brazil, who was making just her fourth career start overall, run her first route after three consecutive sprints to start her career, including an impressive 6 1/4-length win in the seven-furlong Ruthless on February 8 at Aqueduct in her stakes debut.

Facing a talented field in the 42nd running of the Busher, which offered 50-20-10-5 qualifying points to the top-four finishers towards the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks, Miss Brazil served as the pacesetter for the six-horse field, leading through an opening-quarter-mile in 24.53 seconds, the half in 49.64 and three-quarters in 1:15.14 over the fast main track.

Miss Brazil, the slight 9-5 favorite under jockey Eric Cancel, dueled Search Results in the stretch, resulting in her fourth in-the-money finish [2-1-1 record]. The Palace Malice filly earned an 84 Beyer for the effort, second only to the 93 she earned for her maiden-breaking win at second asking going 6 1/2 furlongs on November 29 at Aqueduct in her juvenile finale.

“I thought she did her very best and her effort was fantastic,” Dutrow said. “I was impressed with her effort and was happy to see that she could get the mile, around one turn at least. There were so many positives that came with that performance yesterday, so I’m very happy with her.”

Dutrow said the Chad Brown-trained Search Results, who improved to 2-for-2 in her young career, showed great ability. He also said Miss Brazil didn’t show signs of being overly exerted on Sunday morning, but will wait to see how much her career-long effort took out of her.

“I can’t tell right now. She’s quiet today, so in the upcoming days, we’ll see what effect the race had on her, but she’s quiet today,” Dutrow said. “That was a big performance from a second-time starter to win. Miss Brazil is pretty good, so for a second-timer to beat her, that has to be a pretty good filly.”

While impressed with her performance at one mile, Dutrow said he likely will skip the nine-furlong Grade 2, $250,000 Gazelle on April 3, Wood Memorial Day, at Aqueduct.

“I think we’re going to keep her the maximum at a mile. We’re not going to go to the mile and an eighth race,” Dutrow said. “I think six furlongs to a mile, that seems where she’s most effective.”

Thomas barn off to a flying start in 2021; Nicky the Vest to work Monday for G2 Wood Memorial

Nicky the Vest, trained by Jonathan Thomas for owner Robert LaPenta, matched a career-best 83 Beyer last out in a dominant 11 3/4-length score in the $100,000 Gander, a one-turn mile for New York-bred sophomores on Valentine's Day at the Big A.

In victory, Nicky the Vest, bred in the Empire State by Highclere, became the first stakes winner for his sire Runhappy. Purchased for $110,000 at the 2019 OBS Yearling Sale, Nicky the Vest is perfect through two starts which includes a 3 1/4-length score on debut in December going the one-turn mile at Aqueduct.

Nicky the Vest covered a half-mile in 49.95 seconds on the Belmont dirt training track on February 26 and Thomas said the bay colt will return to the work tab on Monday as preparations continue for the Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino on April 3.

"He's doing well. He'll breeze tomorrow and so far we're on target for the Wood," said Thomas. "He came out of the Gander well and his energy level was good. The weather has been a little contentious the past couple weeks, so we didn't want to take having a nice track for granted and we went ahead and got him back a week earlier than we'd anticipated."

Thomas said he will look to provide the lightly-raced Nicky the Vest with valuable experience in upcoming works.

"I might try next week to give him two horses as a target and give him the opportunity to take a little kickback," said Thomas. "You never know if he might need to overcome a trip with that kind of scenario. But we'll also focus on some longer works so he doesn't come in too fresh and settles well.

"It's exciting. He's undefeated and he's done it by open lengths thus far," added Thomas. "Every task from here on out is only going to get incrementally harder, but we like him a lot and we're going to give him every chance to succeed."

Thomas, a multiple Grade 1-winning conditioner, is off to a flying start in 2021 with a record of 22-10-3-3 and purse earnings of $285,445. He credits that success to patient owners and being able to focus solely on training at Belmont.

"Our owners have been patient and have let these horses develop into their 3-year-old years," said Thomas. "A lot of these horses have longer winded pedigree and that's something we don't have control over. You may want to debut them in August, but it’s not the right thing to do and probably wouldn't run their best anyway. The barn is cycling in the right way and we've had a really good couple of months."

Thomas sent out a pair of promising maiden winners for Augustin Stable at Turfway Park earlier in the week in Be Here and Siraneuse.

Be Here, a Kentucky homebred by Ghostzapper out of 2009 Champion Female Sprinter Informed Decision, earned a 62 Beyer for her 1 1/2-length score in a one-mile maiden special weight on March 4. The sophomore grey colt, who was prepared at Belmont, earned a 62 Beyer.

Thomas said the colt will likely be nominated to the Wood Memorial.

"The Wood offers some opportunity," said Thomas. "He seems to be very stamina laden and going to a mile and an eighth off of that, I wouldn't be as worried. Obviously, you'd like a little more seasoning but it isn't out of the question."

Siraneuse, a sophomore filly by Tapit, was purchased for $450,000 at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale. Bred in Kentucky by Vegso Racing Stable and Tapit Syndicate, Siraneuse earned a 78 Beyer for a rallying five-length score in a one-mile maiden special weight on March 3.

Thomas said Turfway’s Tapeta surface offered both young horses an alternative debut experience.

"Be Here doesn't act like a sprinter," said Thomas. "The more ground he gets the better he will be. Also, after training here at Belmont, the verdict was out on whether or not he's a dirt horse. Obviously, we have no turf racing here on the immediate horizon, so I wanted to get him started.

"The same can be said of the filly, Siraneuse. Both horses were coming out of good works and those races were available," continued Thomas. "I'm not certain they're dirt horses yet and I wanted to be careful and not debut them on the dirt and have a bad experience. There's a chance both will end up on the grass in New York."

Last week’s scores built on earlier Turfway success for Thomas with Augustin Stable sophomore filly homebreds Into Vanishing and Song of Innocence.

By Into Mischief and out of the Lemon Drop Kid mare Vanishing, Into Vanishing graduated at third asking in December at Turfway and followed with a six-length optional-claiming win on January 15 at the Florence, Kentucky oval garnering a 70 Beyer in the one-mile trip.

Song of Innocence, by Munnings and out of the Pulpit mare Remember Then, rallied from seventh for a one-length score in a one-mile maiden special weight on January 29.

Thomas said Siraneuse, Into Vanishing and Song of Innocence will be nominated to the Grade 3, $250,000 Gazelle at nine furlongs on April 3 at the Big A offering 100-40-20-10 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points to the top-four finishers. The veteran conditioner also noted at least one is likely to enter the one-mile Bourbonette Oaks on March 14 at Turfway.

Thomas said Bridlewood Farm, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Robert V. LaPenta's Gale has been retired following a 2 3/4-length score in the Geisha, a one-mile event for Maryland-bred or sired fillies and mares on January 16 at Laurel Park.

The 4-year-old Tonalist filly, who finished fifth in the Grade 3 Comely at the Big A in November, matched a career-best 86 Beyer for her first stakes score.

"She got really unlucky in the Comely," said Thomas. "She went into that race as good as we've ever had her but it was an unfortunate trip and break. The whole thing was done before it got started.

"It was nice to get her a stakes win," added Thomas. "She's a really pretty filly and from a talent perspective it was nice for her to go out a stakes winner. She has been retired and will be a broodmare. She's down in Kentucky at Gainesway."

All-stakes Cross Country Pick 5 pays $63K; handles nearly $150K

Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5 featuring a slate of all stakes from Aqueduct Racetrack and Tampa Bay Downs paid $63,716.50 for selecting all five winners for the 50-cent wager. The sequence's total pool was $149,923.

Wall-to-wall stakes competition started with the Grade 2 Hillsborough for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up going nine furlongs in Race 9 at Tampa. Micheline rallied from third in the stretch to defeat Morning Molly by three-quarters of a length. The Michael Stidham trainee returned $11.20 on a $2 win wager, with Luis Saez calming his charge after she was reluctant to load but responded to firm handling to complete the course in 1:47.19.

Aqueduct got in on the action when Lake Avenue drew away to an impressive 6 3/4-length score in the Heavenly Prize for older fillies and mares going a one-turn mile in Race 8. The 4-5 favorite, trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, bested an eight-horse field, kicking away from runner-up Portal Creek to hit the wire in 1:39.25 under jockey Manny Franco. Lake Avenue paid $3.90.

Back at Tampa, Domain Expertise completed a thrilling run to best Jouster by a nose in the Grade 3, $200,000 Florida Oaks for sophomore fillies going 1 1/16 miles on the turf. Piloted by Antonio Gallardo, Domain Expertise ran down the favorite Jouster in the final jumps. Conditioned by Chad Brown, Domain Expertise [$12.80], registered a final time of 1:41.12.

Aqueduct closed its stakes action with the first of two “Road to the Kentucky Derby” prep races on the Cross Country Pick 5 docket, with Weyburn earning a big-price win at 46-1 for Jimmy Jerkens in the Grade 3 Gotham in Race 9 that had 50-20-10-5 points to the top-four finishers. Weyburn, ridden by Trevor McCarthy, captured 50 qualifying points when besting the Brown-trained Crowded Trade and Highly Motivated. Weyburn, who paid $95.50, edged Crowded Trade, off at 5-1, by a nose with 4-5 favorite Highly Motivated back in third. Freedom Fighter, a California shipper for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, ran fourth.

Alternating back to Tampa, Helium soared in the Grade 2, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby in Race 11. With 50-20-10-5 qualifying points also on the line, the son of Ironicus became his sire’s first graded stakes-winner, outkicking Hidden Stash by three-quarters of a length under Jose Ferrer. Trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, Helium rallied from 10th at the opening quarter-mile to pick up points for the “Run for the Roses,” returning $32.80 in the process. Moonlite Strike ran third and Unbridled Honor was fourth to also earn points.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on track, on ADW platforms, and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.

The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.