Harlem Rocker beat 3 horses in the $142,500 Withers Stakes for 3-year-olds at Aqueduct on Saturday, April 26. The Withers Stakes is one of the final prep races of the 2008 Kentucky Derby.
Harlem Rocker earned $90,000 for Stronach Stables, paying $6.60 and $2.70 as the 2-1 second choice. J Be K, under jockey Garrett Gomez, returned $2.30. Double Or Nothing was third followed by Face the Cat.
Travel arrangements were made for Casino Drive and Spark Candle, 2 potential starters for the 2008 Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 7 ,at Belmont Park.
Owner Hidetoshi Yamamoto and trainer Kazuo Fujisawa will ship both horses to Aqueduct on Wednesday, April 30, the Opening Day of Belmont Park’s 49-day Spring/Summer Meet. Casino Drive and Spark Candle are expected to enter quarantine at the Big A by 1 a.m.
The Belmont Stakes 140 will be the centerpiece of a huge day at Belmont Park, North America’s largest racetrack. It will top a day of six graded stakes races, including four Grade 1 races.
Tale of Ekati, named for owner Charles E. Fipke’s Canadian diamond mine, scored a half-length victory over 2007 Breeder’s Cup Juvenile champion War Pass on Saturday afternoon at Aqueduct in the 84th running of the $750,000 Wood Memorial (gr. I) for three-year-olds at nine furlongs.
Both Tale of Ekati and War Pass will be heading to Churchill Downs for the 2008 Kentucky Derby on May 3, having found redemption at the Big A.
Tale of Ekati paid $19, $6.30 and $3.60. War Pass, the 4-5 favorite on a sunny day at the Big A, returned $3.70 and $2.60. Court Vision, making just his second start this year, paid $2.40 to show.
Three weeks after War Pass finished last in the Tampa Bay Derby following 5 front-running victories, horse trainer Nick Zito sends out one of his Kentucky Derby contenders for owner Robert LaPenta in the $750,000 Wood Memorial (gr. I) at New York’s Aqueduct Race Track on Saturday, April 5.
Aqueduct’s Wood Memorial is one of the major prep races leading to the 2008 Kentucky Derby. The field of the 84th running of the 1 1/8-mile Wood Memorial with jockeys and starters carrying 123 pounds:
Ridden by jockey Jose Lezcano, Visionaire made a late run and won by a nose in the $250,000 Gotham Stakes, a prep race for the 2008 Kentucky Derby for 3-year-olds, on Saturday, March 8, at foggy and sloppy Aqueduct.
Owned by Team Valor International and Vision Racing, Visionaire was coming off a 3rd place finish behind Pyro, one of the leading 2008 Kentucky Derby contenders, in the Risen Star Stakes (gr. III) at Fair Grounds February 9.
Trained by Michael Matz, Visionaire raced 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.60 and paid $11, $5.60 and $3.80. Texas Wildcatter turned in a game effort while wearing blinkers for the first time and returned $5.70 and $3.50. Larrys Revenge, a distant third behind the top two, paid $10.80 to show.
Despite a perfect 4-for-4 record, Al Fried Jr.’s Giant Moon faces the most important start of his young career in Saturday’s 56th running of the $250,000 Gotham Stakes (gr. III) for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles over the inner track at Aqueduct.
With no graded stakes earnings to fall back on, New York-bred Giant Moon needs [...]
Giant Moon’s name may not be featured prominently on many early 2008 Kentucky Derby polls. On one national racing publication’s list, he is No. 23 at 50-1; on another, he is not even mentioned, while on a wire service poll he is included only among horses “to keep an eye on.”
Giant Moon is trained by Richard Schosberg who’s hoping that this Saturday, bay son of Giant’s Causeway, who ran his record to 4-0 with a victory in the Count Fleet Stakes in January, will have the attention he deserves and be considered as one of the leading 2008 Kentucky Derby contenders.
Saturday is the 59th running of the $250,000 Gotham Stakes (gr. III) at 1 1/16 miles, the first major New York stepping-stone to the 134th Kentucky Derby on May 3 at Churchill Downs. At a mile and a sixteenth, the Gotham Stakes serves as the traditional prep for the biggest race of Aqueduct’s spring meet, $750,000 Wood Memorial (gr. I) at nine furlongs on April 5.