Brooklyn Strong Too Tough in Remsen Stakes
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Janet Garaguso
Brooklyn Strong wins the Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack
Making comparisons can come back to haunt the speaker, but trainer Danny Velazquez didn't blink at all when some well-known names were attached to a certain 2-year-old gelding in his barn.
Shortly after Mark Schwartz's Brooklyn Strong won the $145,500 Remsen Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct Racetrack Dec. 5 and entered his name among contenders for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), it was mentioned to his trainer that the son of Wicked Strong was a New York-bred, just like recent Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) and Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) winner Tiz the Law.
Velazquez took it from there.
"I honestly think we are looking for that in the bloodline, and we may have an encore," he said about Tiz the Law's level of success.
Being a son of 2014 Twinspires.com Wood Memorial Stakes (G1) winner Wicked Strong only added to Velazquez's optimism.
"He has very, very similar features to that one," Velazquez said of his trainee's sire. "Today was a big showcase for him against tougher competition, and I couldn't be happier."
Time will tell whether Velazquez and Schwartz will make their first Kentucky Derby start with a horse they bought for a mere $5,000, but for now, with the Kentucky Derby six months away, they at least have a nice head start.
"Now he has to be considered among the top 2-year-olds," Schwartz said about the winner of three of four starts.
By winning the Remsen in determined fashion by a neck over Courtlandt Farms' Ten for Ten, Brooklyn Strong picked up 10 points in the Road to the Kentucky Derby series, which also awarded 4-2-1 points to the second through fourth finishers.
They also have a 2-year-old who seems quite capable of handling an extended distance of ground as neither a sealed, sloppy track or Saturday's 1 1/8-mile distance diminished the kick Brooklyn Strong has displayed in a four-race career that started Sept. 12 with a win in a $40,000 maiden claimer at Delaware Park in a two-turn one-mile test.
"He can run all day," Schwartz said about the winner of the Sleepy Hollow Stakes over 2-year-old New York-breds in his previous start. "If this was 1 1/4 miles, he would have won by a length or two. He has always been the horse moving fastest of all at the finish."
Buying Brooklyn Strong at a low price from the Coastal Equine consignment this year at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training and having Velazquez turn him into a graded stakes winner of $195,000 only added to Schwartz's delight.
"He's the best trainer nobody knows about," Schwartz said.
The Remsen, contested on a rain-soaked day at the Big A, drew just five starters, but it boiled down to two.
The Shug McGaughey-trained Ten for Ten was the 6-5 favorite off a second in the Nashua Stakes (G3) in his previous start and an eight-length, gate-to-wire maiden win on a sloppy track prior to that.
It didn't take long for the son of Frosted to open a clear lead in the Remsen, and he maintained it through moderate fractions of :47.86 and 1:12.69.
Turning for home, Ten for Ten and jockey Jose Ortiz were still in front by about two lengths with the lone threat coming from Brooklyn Strong. By the eighth pole, the margin was a half-length, and in a final furlong covered in less than 13 seconds, the New York-bred proved best in the last few strides.
Bred by Cheryl Prudhomme and Dr. Michael Gallivan, Brooklyn Strong ($16.20) was timed in 1:50.60.
Brooklyn Strong and his connections head to the winner's circle at Aqueduct
Ten for Ten was 8 3/4 lengths clear of third-place finisher Known Agenda and will head to Florida with McGaughey.
"He ran fine. Over that track, he didn't go too fast (early)," said McGaughey, who believes his colt is better suited to a fast track.
St. Elias Stable's Known Agenda, a son of Curlin trained by Todd Pletcher, appeared to dislike the slop, coming under the whip down the backstretch. He still managed to finish 8 1/4 lengths in front of John Bowers Jr.'s Pickin' Time, a son of Stay Thirsty who won the Nashua for trainer Kelly Breen.
As for Brooklyn Strong, he'll start the winter at Velazquez's Parx Racing barn, and Schwartz said the Feb. 6 Withers Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct is a definite possibility.
A Remsen winner hasn't gone on to take the Derby since Thunder Gulch captured the 1995 Run for the Roses.
Since he lives in Florida, Schwartz would not mind spending March 27 watching Brooklyn Strong in the Florida Derby (G1) but admits following in the footsteps of the gelding's sire and running in the Wood Memorial Presented by Resorts World Casino (G2) April 3 at the Big A is an intriguing possibility.
"Now we definitely dream," Velazquez said.