Wicked Strong Heads Excelsior Stakes

Centennial Farms' Wicked Strong, winner of last year’s TwinSpires.com Wood Memorial (gr. I) and Jim Dandy Stakes (gr. II) and runner-up in the Travers Stakes (gr. I), tries to get back on the winning track April 25 as he takes on seven opponents in the $200,000 Excelsior Stakes (gr. III) at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The 4-year-old son of Hard Spun  , who dead-heated for fourth in last year’s Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), made his 2015 debut in the Gulfstream Park Handicap (gr. II) March 7 and finished a close fourth, beaten a length by Honor Code.

Trained by Jimmy Jerkens, Wicked Strong drew post 7 in the 1 1/4-mile test and will have the services of regular rider Rajiv Maragh.

Although Wicked Strong is the class of the field, he will have to face the first- through third-place finishers of the March 23 Stymie Stakes, run over Aqueduct’s inner track.

The Stymie winner, Chilean-bred Turco Bravo, has shown steady improvement since coming here from his native country. Owned by Winning Move stable and trained by Gary Contessa, Turco Bravo has a stalking style which saw him track the pace in the Styme and wear down frontrunner Cousin Stephen, trained by Chad Brown. Finishing third and running evenly throughout was Godolphin Racing’s North Slope, trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, who captured the Evening Attire Stakes in February.

North Slope and Cousin Stephen will break inside of Wicked Strong in posts 4 and 5, respectively, with Turco Bravo on the far outside in post 8.

Cousin Stephen and Stormin Monarcho appear to be the likely pacesetters, unless the Todd Pletcher-trained Red Rifle reverts back to his old style of running on or just off the pace. In his two starts at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots this winter he changed tactics coming from farther back off the pace, which resulted in a third-place finish in the Mineshaft Handicap (gr. III) and a fifth-place finish in the New Orleans Handicap (gr. II). The son of Giant's Causeway   can be tough on the lead, as he demonstrated when wiring his field in the 1 1/4-mile Hawthorne Gold Cup (gr. II) in November.

Also in with a chance on their best day are Repole Stable’s Micromanage, a multiple stakes winner at Aqueduct this winter before finishing fourth in the Evening Attire Stakes and Stymie Stakes; and Effinex, winner of last year’s Empire Classic for New York-breds and an impressive winner of an allowance/optional claimer in open company March 27.