Talk to Me Jimmy to be nominated to G3 Gotham, G2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino off Withers romp

• Talk to Me Jimmy to be nominated to G3 Gotham, G2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino off Withers romp
• Two Bits possible for G3 Gazelle after gritty Ruthless score
• Be You wins Listed Toboggan, under consideration for G2 Carter presented by NYRA Bets
• Just Katherine has stakes breakthrough in $135K Interborough

SEI Thoroughbreds and trainer Rudy Rodriguez’s Talk to Me Jimmy announced his presence in the sophomore dirt division and stepped onto the Kentucky Derby trail with an emphatic 11-length romp in Friday’s Listed $200,000 Withers, a nine-furlong test for sophomores at Aqueduct Racetrack. The winning effort saw Talk to Me Jimmy secure the maximum allotment of the 20-10-6-4-2 qualifying points on offer towards the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby.

Ridden to victory by Ruben Silvera, the New York-bred son of Modernist became the first stakes-winner for his sire after dueling for early command with the favored Schoolyardsuperman, marking splits of 23.96 seconds, 48.18 and 1:12.47 over the fast footing. He kicked clear of Schoolyardsuperman entering the turn and brought his advantage to 6 1/2 lengths at the stretch call, furthering it in the lane to bound through the wire a much-the-best winner in a final time of 1:51.68. The effort garnered a career-best 83 Beyer Speed Figure.

The win came on the back of a 5 1/2-length maiden score going one-mile against fellow state-breds in November here when adding blinkers following a third on debut in September.

Rodriguez said he always believed that Talk to Me Jimmy would relish additional ground.

“He looked like he wanted to go the distance,” Rodriguez said. “He’s got a nice cruise control, and even in his gallops, he’s nice and steady. We were lucky that we got to breeze him out of the gate for the race, and we put another good half-mile into him after that.

“We were thinking to put the blinkers on right from the get-go, but the first time, I just said to leave it alone,” Rodriguez added. “Thank God, we did add them, because it looks like he gets himself together with them. Ruben breezed him the other day and said he gets a little lazy without them.”

Rodriguez noted after the race that Talk to Me Jimmy grabbed a quarter on his front right at some point in the race, and said on Saturday morning that the colt was in good order.

“Thank God, everything looks good,” Rodriguez said. “I’m not too sure where in the race he grabbed himself, maybe a little past the half-mile pole. The little cut on his foot isn’t too bad, but we’ll just make sure with the vet. He’s comfortable this morning and we’re very happy with the way he ran.”

Rodriguez noted there are several options for Talk to Me Jimmy going forward this winter and spring. He expects to nominate the colt to at least four upcoming stakes, including local options in the one-turn mile Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham [a 50-25-15-10-5 Kentucky Derby qualifier] on February 28 and the nine-furlong Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino [a 100-50-25-15-10 qualifier] on April 4. At Laurel Park, Talk to Me Jimmy is likely to be nominated to the one-mile Miracle Wood on February 21 and the 1 1/16-mile Private Terms on March 21.

“Let’s see what the owners want to do,” Rodriguez said, noting the Wood Memorial is a logical spot. “They said to nominate him for the Gotham and the couple of races at Laurel, too.”

Bred in the Empire State by Majestic View Farms Intl., Talk to Me Jimmy is out of the 10-time winning Trippi mare Prairie Trip, whose half-sister Russian River produced turf Grade 2-winner Marckie’s Water. Talk to Me Jimmy was purchased by Rodriguez for $31,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Along with Talk to Me Jimmy, SEI Thoroughbreds and Rodriguez’s week included a dominant maiden score from sophomore colt Exhibition Only in Race 3 on Thursday at the Big A. The son of Complexity was off-the-board on the dirt in his July debut at Saratoga Race Course ahead of three efforts over the turf, including a neck second in November when adding blinkers and setting the pace for the first time.

On Thursday, the promising bay switched back to dirt and again made the lead, but this time, he widened his margin at each point of call under Silvera to canter home a 7 3/4-length winner of the one-turn mile maiden optional claimer in a final time of 1:38.73. The effort was awarded a career-best 84 Beyer.

“He ran very, very good. That was my favorite horse [among the 2024 yearling purchases]. He would breeze [a half-mile] in 46 seconds, and then have a good gallop-out too,” Rodriguez said. “He doesn’t really want to sprint, and we ran him on the grass for the two turns.”

Exhibition Only is likely to join Talk to Me Jimmy on the nomination sheet for the Gotham, as well as the two options at Laurel.

“We’ll just wait and see, and thank God we’ve got him and Jimmy,” Rodriguez said. “I’m very thankful for them and the owners.”

Exhibition Only, bred in Kentucky by Brereton C. Jones, was a $70,000 purchase at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. He is out of the winning Majesticperfection mare Silla Manila, a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-placed Atigun, who finished third in the 2012 Grade 1 Belmont Stakes.

 

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Two Bits possible for G3 Gazelle after gritty Ruthless score

EGL-One Racing’s Two Bits saved all the ground and made a game run up the rail to overtake pacesetter Interstatelovesong and capture Friday’s $135,000 Ruthless, a seven-furlong sprint for sophomore fillies, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by Amelia Green and piloted by Jaime Rodriguez, the American Pharoah bay showed tenacity to rally to the inside of Interstatelovesong at the top of the lane and win a stretch-long battle. Two Bits stopped the clock in 1:24.11 and earned a career-best 88 Beyer Speed Figure for the stylish win.

“When you have a filly that goes up the rail like that and shows a lot of heart and grit, it's always good to see,” Green said. “I couldn't have wrote a better race, he rode it exactly how I would have written it. The main goal was to get her to the rail. The past two days the rail has been playing really well - speed as well - but I thought more so just being on the rail was the main thing.

“As soon as he could, he let the speed go ahead and got her down to the rail at first opportunity,” Green added. “He then held that position the whole way around there. It worked out very well - definitely needed racing luck at the top of the stretch, but luckily it all worked out.”

Green said Two Bits has always trained with a winner’s mentality.

“I switch up their works every other week - inside one week, outside the next week. She's always been a very easy filly in that sense, and she's never been intimidated by other horses,” Green said. “As a 2-year-old, all summer she used to breeze with another filly that was 17 hands and she's not the biggest, but she was never intimidated by that filly. She doesn't know she's on the smaller side. She's just a tough, gutsy filly and as a trainer, you always like those ones.”

Two Bits, who was initially considered for the turf, graduated at fourth asking in November here traveling a one-turn mile and followed with a distant second to well-regarded Dazzling Dame in the one-mile Busanda on January 3 – an effort that earned 10 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points.

Green said Two Bits has matured with racing.

“In her early races, even in her maiden win, she's always been late in switching her leads down the lane,” Green said. “I thought her breeze last week here, she switched right away, and I told the owners it was the first time she switched without having to be asked.

“It was the same yesterday. At the top of the stretch, Jaime asked and she switched first time, which for her is pretty new,” Green added. “She's learning and realizing as she goes along and getting more professional in everything she does.”

Green said Two Bits is now likely to target the nine-furlong Grade 3, $200,000 Gazelle [100-50-25-15-10] on April 4.

“With her liking this track, it's a big help for us,” Green said. “We'll keep all options open this time of year. She'll probably be nominated to a couple of different ones at the beginning of April time and pick our spot after that, but I'd say the Gazelle is the top pick right now.”

Green said Two Bits, who was a deceptively good fourth in the White Clay Creek traveling a two-turn mile in October at Delaware Park, should be able to stretch out.

“She trains like two turns wouldn't be an issue, but until you do it - especially on this Aqueduct deeper track - you never really know,” Green said.

Two Bits exited her Ruthless effort in fine form.

“She looks great. She jogged up great and has been whinnying for peppermints all morning. I don't think it took a whole lot out of her,” Green said.

The 32-year-old Green, who worked with a number of talented Oaks-quality fillies as an assistant for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher including 2021 victress Malathaat, said she’d love a chance to get back to ‘the Lilies for the Fillies’ with one of her own.

“It would be great,” Green said. “It was not the be all end all for her. I think she's a nice filly no matter what, but if she takes us there, we're not going to say no.”

Two Bits was selected by Green, who saddled her first starter in December 2024, and Amanda Gillman for $75,000 at that year’s Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Bred in Kentucky by Don Alberto Corporation, Two Bits is out of the winning Bernardini mare Spare Change, while her second dam is dual Grade 1-winner Finder’s Fee.

Green is hoping to have a second Oaks contender with Lucky Hat Racing’s Ivy Girl, who scratched from Friday’s Ruthless and will instead point to the $250,000 Sunland Oaks [20-10-6-4-2], a two-turn mile on February 15 at Sunland Park.

“We knew going in [to the Ruthless] that seven furlongs was on the shorter side. We opted to scratch and wait for a better spot,” Green said. “I plan on entering her tomorrow for the Sunland Oaks and seeing how that comes up. This time of year with 3-year-old fillies you have plenty of options and I'd like to give her a chance to go two turns somewhere.”

The Maxfield bay, a $100,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase, graduated at second asking in November here traveling a one-turn mile in a $40,000 maiden claimer. She followed with a distant sixth in the Grade 2 Demoiselle on December 6 at the Big A.

Ivy Girl worked a solo half-mile in 49.55 seconds Friday over the Belmont Park dirt training track.

“She's always been a good workhorse. She's never going to break the clock, but she'll throw in her 49, 50s every week in hand,” Green said.

Ivy Girl, a half-sister to the graded stakes-placed duo of Bajan and Virtual Machine, is out of the stakes-placed Aptitude mare Critikal Reason – a half-sister to 2006 Kentucky Oaks-winner Lemons Forever.

Green worked On Command and Minorinconvenience in company Friday over the Belmont Park dirt training track in 49 seconds flat.

Lucky Hat Racing and V Hop Racing’s On Command, a 5-year-old Omaha Beach mare, provided Green with her first career training win in December 2024 at the Big A and also gave the up-and-coming trainer her first stakes win by taking the six-furlong Listed License Fee over firm turf in May at Belmont at the Big A.

Minorinconvenience, a 3-year-old Mendelssohn colt, owned by Green, Gillman and Upland Flats Racing, captured the Funny Cide last out on August 27 versus fellow state-breds at Saratoga Race Course. He required time off after a minor issue sustained while training up to the Grade 1 Champagne won by Napoleon Solo on October 4 at Belmont at the Big A.

“That was the first time I ever worked them together and they were very well matched,” Green said. “It was quite cool - from the sixteenth pole to the wire, their strides were matched perfectly. It was cool to have your two stakes winners work together.”

On Command was last seen finishing off-the-board in the 5 1/2-furlong Grade 2 Intercontinental in June during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga but was freshened and has posted a steady string of recent works over the Belmont Park dirt training track.
Green indicated On Command has a number of options, including the seven-furlong Listed Barbara Fritchie on February 14 at Laurel Park and the six-furlong $135,000 Correction on March 1 at the Big A.

“I plan on entering her tomorrow for the Barbara Fritchie at Laurel. I'm not fully committed to running there, I'm thinking of waiting for the Correction here but keeping options open,” Green said.

The promising Minorinconvenience is under consideration for a pair of upcoming one-turn mile stakes for sophomores at the Big A, including the $135,000 Gander for state-breds on March 7 and the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham on February 28 offering 50-25-15-10-5 Kentucky Derby qualifying points.

“If the Gotham comes up light, he's training well enough that I'd like to give him a chance there, but obviously the Gander would be a logical starting spot with him being a New York-bred. I like that they're both a mile, so we don't have to start going a mile and an eighth,” Green said.

Green will debut a promising Charlatan colt in Repole Stable’s Easy Decision [post 8, Reylu Gutierrez] in Race 7 on Wednesday here, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for sophomores.

The $300,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase is out of the winning Bernardini mare All Laced Up, a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire Smooth Air.

Green said Easy Decision got started with Pletcher’s barn last spring. After a few works last April at Palm Beach Downs, he worked once at Saratoga in May and did not return to the work tab until mid-December. He has since put together a rapid string of breezes, including a bullet half-mile from the gate in 47.25 seconds on Friday as well as a half-mile gate work in 47.40 over the same track that was ranked second of 182 efforts at the distance on January 23.

“I believe he started out with Todd as a 2-year-old and then he got hurt and went to the farm,” Green said. “I was just lucky enough that when it was time to come in, they told him they were going to send him to me.

“Since he came in, he's a very good-looking colt. You can see why he was in Book 1 at Keeneland,” Green added. “He's everything you'd want a horse to look like. He's been very straightforward and never missed a beat. He breezes very good every week.”

Green said she’s hopeful that the swift morning works will translate to the afternoon.

“The gate works at Belmont are always faster than the pole works, but what he is doing, he's doing in hand,” Green said. “I've never let him off the bridle and never asked him anything. That's always a good sign when horses are throwing fast times well within themselves.”

 

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Be You wins Listed Toboggan, under consideration for G2 Carter presented by NYRA Bets

Repole Stable’s Grade 1-placed Be You showed an affinity for sprinting when 1 3/4 lengths the best in Friday’s Listed $150,000 Toboggan, a seven-furlong test for older horses, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, the 5-year-old Curlin gelding stalked under Kendrick Carmouche through the half-mile in 45.73 seconds on the fast dirt. In the stretch, he got the jump on the multiple New York-bred stakes-winning favorite Doc Sullivan and powered to the wire in a final time of 1:23.50.

Be You improved to 6-3-1-0 at seven furlongs and earned a 95 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort, one tick shy of his career-best from the same distance in a 2024 maiden victory at Gulfstream Park.

“Obviously we were very happy with that effort,” said Pletcher. “It seems like he now kind of specializes at that seven-furlong distance, so we are pretty happy with that. He seems to have come out of the race nicely so far.”

Pletcher said Be You will “definitely” be under strong consideration for the Grade 2, $300,000 Carter presented by NYRA Bets, a seven-furlong sprint for older horses, on April 4 here.

The same trainer, jockey and owner combo enjoyed another stakes win two races later with Scalable in the $135,000 Ladies, a nine-furlong route for older fillies and mares. The 5-year-old Speightstown gray enjoyed a similar stalking trip and won by 2 1/4 lengths for her first win since the seven-furlong Interborough last January here.

“I thought that was a big performance,” Pletcher said. “That definitely showed she was still interested in running. I’ll get together with Mike [Repole] and make a decision on what we are going to do.”

The nine-furlong Listed $175,000 Top Flight is on March 29 here and would be a logical next spot for Scalable.

Later on the card, in the nine-furlong Listed $200,000 Withers, Repole Stable’s Grittiness finished an 11-length second to the runaway New York-bred Talk to Me Jimmy. The runner-up finish may be better than it looks on paper, as the Curlin chestnut was 10 lengths back in last-of-7 through three quarters after he was in tight in the first turn under Ricardo Santana, Jr., rallying for place-honors behind a gate-to-wire winner. 

“He got bumped pretty hard going into the first turn,” Pletcher said. “He lost a little bit of position. I thought he rallied pretty well considering the way the track was playing and where he was early. Happy with his performance.”

Grittiness now has 11 qualifying points towards the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby in May at Churchill Downs, picking up 10 from the 20-10-6-4-2 on offer and having entered from a fifth-place finish in the Grade 2 Remsen on December 6 here that garnered one point.

Pletcher said the plan for Grittiness is the $500,000 Virginia Derby on March 14 at Colonial Downs, a 50-25-15-10-5 qualifier for the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby.

Pletcher also enjoyed Red Oak Stable’s New York-bred Prince Valiant capturing the Friday opener by five lengths in an open allowance over well-regarded New York-bred Moe Eighty Eight. The 4-year-old King for a Day bay wired the seven-furlong race from the outermost post 8 in a final time of 1:23.07, registering a career-best 100 Beyer.

“The horse has always shown talent. He caught a flier from the outside and took the lead. That was a big performance, we’ll see where to go from there but obviously pleased with a breakthrough performance,” Pletcher said. “We’ll sit back and enjoy this one, decide his next race later.”

Bred in the Empire State by Sugar Maple Farm, Prince Valiant also wired the $200,000 Times Square division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series in April here sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs. He was a $50,000 purchase at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Fall Mixed Sale and is out of the winning D’Funnybone mare Lizzy’s Fun.

 

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Just Katherine has stakes breakthrough in $135K Interborough

R.T Racing Stable’s Grade 2-placed Just Katherine nosed out Stonewall Star to secure her first stakes win in Friday’s $135,000 Interborough, a seven-furlong sprint for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by Jose Jimenez, the 6-year-old Justify bay was making her 10th stakes attempt and rallied from last-of-4 under Sahin Civaci to nail the pacesetting Stonewall Star at the wire in a final time of 1:24.28. Just Katherine entered from a distant third off an over one-year layoff last out in the one-mile Listed Go for Wand on December 13 here.

“She is doing well this morning. Very good,” Jimenez said of Just Katherine’s status Saturday morning. “She won and ran fabulous. That was very nice. The way she finished, we are happy, happy, happy. I feel good about her first stakes win; we worked hard with her. We waited one year and the two races she had this year have been good.”

Just Katherine earned an 86 Beyer Speed Figure in victory and is now 17-5-3-4 overall with $492,650 in earnings. A logical next spot could be over course and distance in the Grade 3, $150,000 Distaff on April 4.

“Maybe we will go there, she likes the track,” said Jimenez. “But we want to wait [to decide]. You know I have to wait, see day by day, more and more. Right now, everything looks good.”

Bred in Kentucky by Boyd Brooks, Louis Brooks Racing Limited Partnership and Hugh Owen, et al, Just Katherine, out of the Medaglia d’Oro mare Reve Enchante, is a half-sister to Dream It Is, who won the 2017 Grade 3 Schuylerville at Saratoga Race Course.