Shotski Continues on Kentucky Derby Path in Withers

Trainer Jeremiah O'Dwyer is at a point in his career where he would prefer to stress quality over quantity in his stable, and there's a certain 3-year-old colt who is helping him take a big step in that direction.

The Maryland-based O'Dwyer, who has been training since 2014, got his first graded stakes win in December when Wachtel Stable, Gary Barber, Pantofel Stable, and Howling Pigeon Farms' Shotski notched a frontrunning half-length victory in the Remsen Stakes (G2) for 2-year-olds at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The victory in the two-turn, 1 1/8-mile stakes put the son of Blame  squarely on the road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), and now, as a 3-year-old, he'll try to take another hop-skip-and-a-jump toward Louisville on the first Saturday in May when he returns Feb. 1 in the $250,000 Withers Stakes (G3), another nine-furlong test at the Big A.

"He's doing very well," O'Dwyer said about Shotski. "We're happy with him. He came out of the Remsen in good order, and he's training like a professional. He goes out on the track like he's going to take on the world."

Though the Remsen winner has not captured the Run for the Roses since the 1990s when Go For Gin and Thunder Gulch posted back-to-back wins in the opening jewel of the Triple Crown in 1994 and 1995, respectively, it has produced its fair share of top-level winners in recent years. Catholic Boy , who captured the 2018 Runhappy Travers Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1), and multiple grade 1 winner Honor Code  dot the list of Remsen winners since 2013.

"You're hoping horses like him can go two turns and keep maturing, and he's done that. He looks bigger and stronger," the 38-year-old O'Dwyer said. "He's gotten us to a level where we want to be."

A highly promising sign in O'Dwyer's eyes is that Luis Saez, one of the nation's top jockeys, has elected to stick with Shotski and will give up riding on the Holy Bull Day card at Gulfstream Park to journey to New York to ride him.

"He wants to ride our horse," O'Dwyer said. "Jockeys like him are always looking for a nice 3-year-old, and it's great when a top rider stays on your horse."

Saez hopped aboard Shotski for the first time in the Remsen, taking the mount after the half brother to grade 3-placed Colonist ran fourth at a one-turn mile in the Street Sense Stakes at Churchill Downs. He took Shotski to the lead at the start and never looked back, though the fractions were dawdling as they covered the first six furlongs in a tepid 1:15.19 before crossing the wire in 1:54.24. 

If the fractions are quicker Saturday, O'Dwyer believes rating off the pace will not be a problem for his son of the Bluegrass Cat mare She Cat who will break from post 5.

"He doesn't have to be on the lead. If some horses are going at a fast gallop, he can be third or fourth," O'Dwyer said. "He's fine with taking dirt. He's a pleasure to be around, and he'll do what you want. He's a push-button horse."

Shotski, whose debut came in a 10th-place finish on turf, has two wins in four starts and earnings of $167,222. Bred in Kentucky by Springland Farm and Prime Bloodstock, he was sold in 2018 to Kings Equine for $25,000 at The October Sale, Fasig-Tipton's fall yearling sale in Lexington, where he was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency.

The Withers moved to its February spot on the New York Racing Association stakes calendar in 2012, and in its first year the victor was Alpha, who later that year won the Travers in a dead heat.

The race awards points on a 10-4-2-1 scale to the top four finishers toward a start in the May 2 Kentucky Derby.

Most of the runners in the field of eight will be happy to emulate last year's Withers winner, Tax, who went on to win the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) at Saratoga Race Course in addition to finishing second in the Wood Memorial Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G2) and fourth in the Belmont Stakes (G1).

Those kind of high hopes surround Portos, a Wertheimer and Frere homebred son of Tapit  who comes into the race off a 10 3/4-length maiden score at Aqueduct in his fourth start for trainer Todd Pletcher. The first foal from the Tiznow  mare Fierce Boots traveled around two turns and finished second, third, and fourth in his other starts.

"He's doing well. His last race was what we were hoping for and showed us what we thought he had in him," Pletcher said. "He's a special horse that we always had high hopes for. He handled the distance well, and we're hopeful of another move forward."

Portos' romp came on a sloppy track, and there's a 40% chance of rain or snow Saturday. He has post 8 with Jose Lezcano aboard.

Also among the field are Darlene Bilinski and Harry Patten's Prince of Pharoahs, a son of American Pharoah  who finished in a dead heat for second in the Jan. 1 Jerome Stakes, Cash is King and LC Racing's Monday Morning Qb, and owner/trainer Diane Day's Georgia-bred New Commission. Monday Morning Qb and New Commission finished first and second, respectively, in the seven-furlong Heft Stakes at Laurel Park.

Daniel Ryan's Vanzzy comes into the Withers off a win in the Display Stakes on a synthetic surface.

The Withers (4:25 p.m. ET post time) will be the eighth of nine races on a card that begins at 1 p.m.

Patrons who purchase a Post Parade program at Aqueduct will receive a commemorative 2020 NYRA calendar, while supplies last.

Entries: Withers S. (G3)

Aqueduct Racetrack, Saturday, February 01, 2020, Race 8

• Grade III
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $250,000
• 3 yo
• 4:25 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Mr. Shortandsimple (KY)	Reylu Gutierrez	118	Rudy R. Rodriguez	30/1
2	2Monday Morning Qb (MD)	Jorge A. Vargas, Jr.	120	Robert E. Reid, Jr.	4/1
3	3Max Player (KY)	Dylan Davis	118	Linda Rice	9/2
4	4New Commission (GA)	Abner Adorno	118	Diane M. Day	15/1
5	5Shotski (KY)	Luis Saez	123	Jeremiah O'Dwyer	2/1
6	6Prince of Pharoahs (NY)	Kendrick Carmouche	118	Linda Rice	8/1
7	7Vanzzy (KY)	Junior Alvarado	120	Michael V. Pino	8/1
8	8Portos (KY)	Jose Lezcano	118	Todd A. Pletcher	3/1