Led by the undefeated morning line favorite Samraat (Noble Causeway), a quartet of New York-breds is entered in the Grade 3, $500,000 Gotham Stakes for 3-year-olds to be run at 1 1/16 miles on Saturday at Aqueduct Racetrack. The Gotham is a “Kentucky Derby Championship Series” race worth 85 points: 50 points to the winner, which virtually guarantees a berth on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs, 20 points to the runner-up, 10 to third and 5 to fourth.
My Meadowview Farm’s homebred Samraat followed up a 16 3/4-length romp in the Damon Runyon on December 18 with a determined one-length victory in the Grade 3 Withers on February 1 after a protracted duel with Uncle Sigh.
Right after the Withers Rick Violette, who trains Samraat for Leonard Riggio’s My Meadowview Farm, kept his options open for the colt’s next start, including waiting for the Wood Memorial on April 5, but ultimately decided that an extra prep would give his colt valuable experience.
“There’s no question more racing will help him,” said Violette. “If we’re lucky enough to make it to the Derby, we felt two races [Gotham and Wood] would be the way to go and Mr. Riggio felt strongly about that. In the Gotham, we’ll be racing out of our own stall on a racetrack he’s familiar with. It’s an upgrade as far as competition goes. He has to step up but if you watched the prep races over the weekend, there were a few horses who stepped up and a lot who didn’t.”
Tabbed as the 5-2 favorite on the morning line, Samraat drew post eight in the eleven-horse field and will be reunited with regular rider Jose Ortiz.
Second choice on the morning line at 3-1 is Wounded Warrior Stables and Anthony Robertson’s game Withers runner-up Uncle Sigh (Indian Charlie). Bred by Milfer Farm and trained by Gary Contessa, Uncle Sigh gave Samraat nearly everything he could handle in the Withers in his third career start. Uncle Sigh worked a sharp half-mile bullet over the Belmont training track on Monday in 46.98 (best of 119).
Said Contessa, “I’m super pleased with the way he’s coming into the race. I was hoping for a good post position because it can play a big part in the landscape of this race. He’s trained good, had a good work this morning, and we’ll see what happens.” Uncle Sigh drew post position three and will have Corey Nakatani up for the first time.
Coupled with Samraat in the wagering is another Meadowview Farm homebred by Noble Causeway, Noble Cornerstone. Trained by Wesley Ward and based at Gulfstream Park, Noble Cornerstone dominated a state-bred maiden special weight field in his Aqueduct debut on November 3 before finishing second by a neck in the Remington Springboard Mile at Remington Park on December 15. Post-time favorite for the Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs on February 1, Noble Cornerstone failed to make an impact after acting up in the gate and breaking poorly. The bay gelding, who posted a final comfortable four-furlong move at Gulfstream on Tuesday morning (51:65, 23/24), is drawn in post four and has the services of regular jockey Kent Desormeaux.
Rounding out the New York-bred foursome is Deceived (Broken Vow). Bred by Dr. William B. Wilmot and Dr. Joan M. Taylor and trained by Leah Gyarmati for Treadway Racing Stable, the bay colt is a half-brother to Grade 1-placed millionaire Naughty New Yorker, New York-bred Horse of the Year and Champion Older Male.
After knocking at the door with a third-place finish and a pair of seconds in his first three starts, Deceived broke his maiden by 7 1/2 lengths at Aqueduct on December 7. Third in his stakes debut in the Damon Runyon behind Samraat, he took a first-level state-bred allowance as a much-the-best eight-plus-length winner.
Deceived turned in a six-furlong drill in company with Grade 1 winner Sweet Reason (Street Sense) over the Belmont training track Sunday in 1:16.10. As to the timing and the distance of the drill, Gyarmati said she had to factor in the recent bad weather. “It’s hard when you’re not able to train every day to jump up and do things. You don’t want to go from jogging in the barn for four days to breezing a mile, so you kind of have got to compromise, but he’s good and fit and has been running.”
Rajiv Maragh, aboard last out, retains the mount for Deceived’s open company debut in the Gotham. The pair will break from position six and are listed at 15-1 on the morning line.
The Gotham will be run as race 9 on Saturday’s 10-race card (4:17 p.m.). Entries.
