Pico d'Oro Travels to Aqueduct for Jimmy Winkfield

Sandin Syndicate Stable's Pico d'Oro notched a stakes win as a juvenile and will look to capitalize on that experience in his 3-year-old debut in the $100,000 Jimmy Winkfield Stakes going seven furlongs Jan. 31 at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The Curlin  colt broke his maiden at third asking in his stakes debut Aug. 9, rallying for a two-length score in the Runhappy Juvenile Stakes at Ellis Park. He ran fifth next out in the Sept. 5 Iroquois Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs. Trainer William Morey dropped Pico d'Oro into allowance optional claiming for his next three starts starts, and the colt returned to the winner's circle Dec. 18 at Turfway Park.

"He's training great and we're excited to come up," Morey said. "He's improving; he's a colt that's bred to get better as he ages, so let's hope that's the case. He's trained well over the Tapeta surface at Turfway."

The Winkfield's distance, the same as Pico d'Oro's Juvenile win, was appealing to Morey, who returned him to sprinting in his last two starts after two races at a mile.

"That's why we're coming; it can be hard to find those distances of seven furlongs," he said. "He's got a good, steady style about him, which is why I think he likes that distance. He's got some tactical speed, but he's got a good, steady finish."

Kendrick Carmouche will pick up the mount from the outside in the six-horse field.

Brittany Russell and Dark Horse Racing's Hello Hot Rod posted back-to-back wins at Laurel Park Nov. 13 and Dec. 13. He broke his maiden in the November race, a seven-furlong waiver maiden claiming event, and won by 4 1/4 lengths. The Mosler  colt then won by 2 1/4 lenghts in a mile allowance optional claiming race. Both victories came racing on the front end.

"We considered a couple of different spots for him, but he's been touting himself and worked really well last week, so we thought the time was now," said Russell, who also trains Hello Hot Rod. "Hopefully, he shows up and runs as well as he's been training."

Russell said the Winkfield also provides an opportunity for Hello Hot Rod to ship in for a race for the first time.

"You learn a lot about a horse," Russell said about the shipping experience. "I would expect he can handle it, but you don't know until you try. It's better to find out now, because if he wants to be decent moving forward, we'll have an idea if he can travel or we have to stay home."

Trevor McCarthy will be in the irons from post 1.

Just In Time Racing's Scotch Rock's, a maiden winner in three starts trained by Harold Wyner, will try to do better in his second stakes appearance after running seventh in the Jan. 16 Spectacular Bid Stakes at Laurel.

"Last out, he got a little bit of trouble coming around the turn," Wyner said. "He got checked and once that happened it was more or less over. It was just one of those things with racing luck. He got bumped a bit and the race was over then."

Scotch Rock's worked frequently last year with stablemate and Jan. 1 Jerome Stakes winner Capo Kane.

"He was working with Capo Kane all the way through to 'Capo's' first race and he was staying together with him," Wyner said. "I have high expectations for him. He's a nice, big horse. He's probably around 16.3 hands. He's big boned and a strong individual."

Katie Davis will ride from post 3.

Return the Ring, Magnificent Chrome, and Weyburn round out the field.