Three-Year-Olds Ring In the New Year in Jerome
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Photo: Coglianese Photos
Hold the Salsa (inside) wins the New York Stallion Series Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack
There will be a nice birthday present awaiting one of five newly turned 3-year-olds Jan. 1 in the eighth race at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Whether that fortunate birthday boy will ever use that gift is the multi-million dollar question that will be answered four months from now.
A new year at New York Racing Association tracks kicks off Friday at the Big A with the spotlight belonging to the $150,000 Jerome Stakes for 3-year-olds at a one-turn mile.
The first of four New York preps for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) will offer a total of 17 qualifying points toward a start in the Run for the Roses—which will hopefully return to its traditional first Saturday in May spot in 2021—and hand 10 of them to the winner with 4-2-1 points going to the second through fourth finishers.
That means only one entrant will leave Aqueduct empty-handed in terms of the points chase while time and longer and more important two-turn stakes will determine if any of the other runners have the right stuff to be a Triple Crown starter.
Of the five, Kueber Racing's and Ten Strike Racing's Swill rates the closest look in Friday's race. One of two starters with experience in open stakes, he is coming off a fourth in the Nov. 28 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2), which netted him one qualifying point for the Kentucky Derby.
"He might not be a two-turn horse," said Marshall Gramm, one of Ten Strike Racing's two founding partners, explaining the colt's placement in the Jerome.
Beaten by 4 1/2 lengths in the Kentucky Jockey Club, the son of Munnings was a three-length winner of a Churchill Downs maiden race for trainer Brad Cox in his previous start at seven furlongs.
Bred by McCauley Farms and Nathan McCauley out of the Into Mischief mare Walking Miracle, the colt was bought for $265,000 from the Eaton Sales consignment at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Select Yearling Sale.
After Hold the Salsa won his career debut against New York-breds, he was tested in the Saratoga Special Stakes Presented by Miller Lite (G2) and finished last in a field of nine. Since then, the son of Hold Me Back picked up a pair of wins in state-bred stakes for owner/trainer/breeder Richard Lugovich.
"He's been training super. I know he'll run well, it just depends on how well," Lugovich said.
In his last start, Hold the Salsa captured the New York Stallion Series Stakes at seven furlongs, which carried a hefty purse of $250,000.
Eagle Orb takes the Notebook Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack
E.V. Racing Stable's Eagle Orb is also exiting a win in a New York-bred stakes as the son of Orb closed 2020 with a win for trainer Rudy Rodriguez in the six-furlong Notebook Stakes.
Eric Fein's Original has started twice with mixed results. The Quality Road colt was beaten by 22 1/2 lengths in his debut on dirt but then was a front-running winner when trainer John Terranova switched him to turf.
The Jerome will be contested in accordance with NYRA's decision to ban race-day Lasix in all 2021 stakes, but of the five starters, the only one who has raced on Lasix is maiden winner Capo Kane, whose two starts came at Parx Racing.
Additional Reporting by Byron King
Aqueduct Racetrack, Friday, January 01, 2021, Race 8Entries: Jerome S.
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Capo Kane (CA)
Dylan Davis
118
Harold Wyner
12/1
2
2Swill (KY)
Kendrick Carmouche
118
Brad H. Cox
7/5
3
3Hold the Salsa (NY)
Romero Ramsay Maragh
120
Richard J. Lugovich
4/1
4
4Eagle Orb (NY)
Manuel Franco
120
Rudy R. Rodriguez
9/5
5
5Original (KY)
Jose Lezcano
118
John P. Terranova II
7/2
