El Kabeir Continues NY Success in Gotham

Zayat Stables' El Kabeir continued his success on the New York circuit March 7, running to a polished victory in the $400,000 Gotham Stakes (gr. III) at Aqueduct Racetrack .

''He overcame a lot, it was a big jump forward,'' trainer John Terranova said. ''He got everything thrown at him today, and he still managed to overcome it all. It was very impressive.''

The Gotham awards points on the road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) with 50-20-10-5 going to the top four finishers. El Kabeir, winner of the Kentucky Jockey Club (gr. II) and Jerome (gr. III), and runner-up in the Withers (gr. III), now has 75 points to top the leaderboard and will target the April 4 TwinSpires.com Wood Memorial (gr. I).

The 3-year-old son of Scat Daddy   had just two rivals beaten headed into the first turn of the 1 1/16-mile Gotham, but jockey C. C. Lopez bided his time and saved ground with a smooth rail move. After steadily making up the distance behind fractions of :23, :46.63, and 1:12.01, the Terranova trainee swung four wide turning for home and took over from pacesetters Toasting Master and Blame Jim, drawing off through a 1:38.89 mile to win by 2 3/4 lengths. 

Final time over the muddy harrowed track was 1:45.56.

"He broke good, but those horses broke better and showed more gas, so then he got quickly shuffled back going into the turn," Lopez said. "I just tried not to panic; I was riding the best horse in the race.

"He was much easier behind horses to throttle the speed back and when I called on him going to the half-mile pole I was able to sneak through on the fence and angle him out going to the three-eighths pole. From there, when he changed leads turning for home, he just exploded. So I'm not worried about (increasing) the distance any more."

CRISCOLA: Lopez Lets El Kabeir Be 'The Boss'

El Kabeir returned $4.60, $3.10, and $2.50 while favored at odds of 6-5 under highweight of 123 pounds in a field of 10. Tiz Shea D paid $8 and $4.60 in second, followed by Classy Class ($3.80). Toasting Master, Tencendur, Dontbetwithbruno, Uninfluenced, Blame Jim, Combat Driver, and Lieutenant Colonel completed the order of finish.

El Kabeir was bred in Florida by Rustlewood Farm out of the Unbridled's Song mare Great Venue. He was purchased for $250,000 by EQB Inc. on behalf of Zayat Stables out of the Summerfield (Francis and Barbara Vanlangendonck) consignment at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s 2013 August yearling sale.

"I think he thrives off the races, and training," Terranova said. "The more you throw at him; the stronger he gets. I took him out the morning of this race and trained him a little bit. He seems to get sharper mentally, and physically he feels good. He thrives on the adrenaline.

"We'd like to stay here and run in the Wood Memorial because he's done very well here."

In fact, the top three finishers from the Gotham could possibly take a crack at the Wood.

"Based on the colt's performance, supplementing him to the Triple Crown is something we should do," said Adam Wachtel, co-owner of runner-up Tiz Shea D. "We'll see how he comes out of this, talk to (trainer) Bill (Mott) and maybe he'll run in one of the big preps. W'd love to run in the Wood Memorial. It's our home town. He's proven he's the real deal."

"(Classy Class) broke slow, which was unfortunate," trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said. "Junior (Alvarado) rode him well, saved ground, and he showed he can take mud in his face. He had a bit of traffic but we're happy with his race. We'll look at running him back on April 4, which makes the most sense, either in the Wood Memorial or the Blue Grass (gr. I, at Keeneland)."