Far From Over, El Kabeir Likely for Gotham
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Far From Over and El Kabeir, the first two finishers in the Withers Stakes (gr. III) Feb. 7, could be headed for a rematch in the $400,000 Gotham Stakes (gr. III) in one month at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Speaking the morning of Feb. 8, the trainers for the two 3-year-olds said their chargers emerged from Aqueduct's 1 1/16-mile Withers in good shape and are likely to remain in New York for their next starts.
"So far, so good," said John Terranova, who trains Withers runner-up El Kabeir for Zayat Stables. "He cooled out really well after the race and is a nice, sound horse."
Terranova said the March 7 Gotham, also at 1 1/16 miles, is the next likely spot for El Kabeir, who currently sits atop the point standings in the system used to determine the 20 starters for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) with 25.
The 1-2 favorite in the 1 1/16-mile Withers, El Kabeir was hooked up with pacesetting Classy Class before taking the lead midstretch. However, he was unable to repel the sustained late run from Far From Over, who rallied from last to win by 1 3/4 lengths in a 6-1 upset.
"I thought it was a good effort," said Terranova. "We were second best, but (El Kabeir) put in a good, solid effort. He's an ultra-consistent horse; hopefully we can take that next jump forward in his next race."
Far From Over overcame a bad stumble at the start and trailed the pacesetters by more than 10 lengths after the first half mile before rallying to give jockey Manuel Franco his first graded stakes win.
Byron Hughes, assistant to winning trainer Todd Pletcher, said all is well for the lightly raced son of Blame .
"He came out in good shape, ate everything up today," said Hughes. "I talked to Todd this morning; there are no immediate plans for him, but it looks like he'll be staying in New York."
"He came back well," Pletcher said from Florida. "Thankfully he didn't grab anything when he stumbled leaving the gate. I thought it was a pretty impressive effort to do that in his second start. I would say the most likely scenario is that he'll stay in New York and run in the Gotham."
The Black Rock Thoroughbreds color-bearer entered Saturday's Withers facing winners for the first time, having broken his maiden in his debut Dec. 12 at Aqueduct going a mile and 70 yards on the inner track. His Withers victory earned him 10 points as part of the "Road to the Kentucky Derby" qualifying system.
Meanwhile, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, speaking Sunday from his Florida base on the Cheyenne Stables-owned Classy Class, gave no indication of what is next for the son of Discreetly Mine . The colt was making his first start since finishing fourth in the Remsen Stakes (gr. II) Nov. 29.
"We had a little hiccup before the Jerome (gr. III) that forced us to miss the race. We'd like to see how he does after a full month of training with no setbacks," McLaughlin said.