Some Deja Vu for New York's Road to the Triple Crown

It was 50 years ago that Secretariat added some heat to a chilly New York winter by using Aqueduct Racetrack as his launching pad to a Triple Crown sweep.

The famed "Big Red of Meadow Stable" won the Bay Shore Stakes (G3 at the time) and Gotham Stakes (G2) at the Big A before running third at the Ozone Park track in the Wood Memorial Stakes (G1), his final prep before dominating the American classics.

Back then, New York was a premier road to the Triple Crown with Kentucky Derby (G1) winners such as Foolish Pleasure (1975), Bold Forbes (1976), Seattle Slew (1977), and Pleasant Colony (1981) playing starring roles in the Big Apple before savoring Triple Crown glory at Churchill Downs.

Yet as time passed, the interest in the New York preps waned as Gulfstream Park, Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, and Oaklawn Park gained popularity as winter destinations for the top barns and their best 3-year-old prospects.

Some lean years culminated with the Wood Memorial downgraded to grade 2 status in 2017, but of late there has been a revival in using one or more of the Big Apple's four Kentucky Derby preps as a place to get ready for the Triple Crown.

While a Kentucky Derby winner has not raced in New York at 3 since 2003, when Funny Cide  became the third New York runner in four years to take the opening leg of the Triple Crown, last year was a prolific year for the Empire State's Road to the Triple Crown. The Wood Memorial produced the winners of both the Preakness Stakes (G1) and Belmont Stakes (G1) as Early Voting  , who won the Withers Stakes (G3) and was second in the Wood, won the Preakness, and Wood victor Mo Donegal   prevailed in the Belmont Stakes. 

Illustrating the revived interest in the New York route to the classics, Early Voting was the second New York runner to win the Preakness since 2017 (Cloud Computing   in 2017 was the other), while Mo Donegal the was second N.Y. prep product since 2019 to prevail in the Belmont Stakes (also Sir Winston   in 2019).

"That was a big accomplishment last year," said Frank Gabriel, the New York Racing Association's senior vice president of racing operations. "New York has always been a good road to the Kentucky Derby and last year we had some very good horses competing in our series of races, with horses coming up from Florida and Kentucky. That reflects well on our winter program. We have great purses in the winter and when you have trainers and barns here like Todd Pletcher, Chad Brown, and Bill Mott at that time of year it helps the program and gets you the kind of horses you want in those races."

The four monthly preps for 3-year-olds at Aqueduct begin Jan. 7 with the $150,000 Jerome Stakes at a one-turn mile. Next comes the Feb. 4 Withers at a two-turn 1 1/8-mile distance. The Jerome offers 10-4-3-2-1 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top five finishers and the Withers 20-8-6-4-2, with the Withers giving trainers insight in early February about their horse's abilities at nine furlongs as opposed to waiting for April and the final round of preps across the country.

"The Withers can answer some questions about two turns. If a horse handles it, it gives you a reason to come back for the Wood over the same track and provides an early indication if a horse can get the 1 1/4 miles of the Kentucky Derby," Gabriel said.

The series closes with the March 4 Gotham Stakes (G3) back at a one-turn mile (50-20-15-10-5 points), followed by New York's definitive Kentucky Derby prep, the Wood on April 8 at 1 1/8 miles (100-40-30-20-10).

Brown, who registered his eighth straight year-long New York training title in 2022, has not been fazed by the prospect of training a top Triple Crown candidate in the colder weather and has enjoyed great success using the New York preps. In 2017, he sent out Cloud Computing to finish second in the Gotham and third in the Wood, skipped the Kentucky Derby, and was rewarded with a Preakness victory for the four-time Eclipse Award winner's initial Triple Crown score. His second classic victory came with Early Voting, who also thrived during his winter in frigid New York while most of his stablemates trained in Florida.

"We've done it a few times," he said about prepping at Aqueduct. "We love training in New York. We just wrapped up our eighth season as the leading barn in New York. It's our home base and we try to participate year-round and use New York facilities to get our horses ready and it's worked out well."

Brown will be active in the opening leg of the New York series, sending out Klaravich Stables' Neural Network  in the field of eight for the Jerome.

A New York-bred son of Cloud Computing, Neural Network was an impressive, five-length winner of his Nov. 13 career debut at Aqueduct in a seven-furlong maiden special weight test against fellow state-breds on a muddy track.

"I really liked his debut," Brown said. "He's acting like a horse who should win with more distance so I was proud of the way he won at a shorter distance and I'm looking forward to stretching him out."

Though he has a long way to go to match the accomplishments of his classic-winning sire, the dark brown or bay colt has some noteworthy similarities he shares with his dad, who made his first start in February of his 3-year-old season.

"He's the spitting image of his dad, so we were hoping to follow some of the same pattern as his dad, staying in New York and getting on the Triple Crown trail. We'll see how he develops," Brown said. "He had a few minor things, like his dad, that held us back from running him in the summer, but we took our time. He found his stride and began moving forward in the fall so we finally put him in the entries."

Out of the Street Cry  mare Lapinski, Neural Network was purchased for $120,000 from the Legacy Bloodstock consignment at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale.

New York-breds figure to play a prominent role in the outcome with half of the field hailing from the Empire State.

The other three New York-breds all have stakes credentials, topped by Chester Sr. and Mary Broman's homebred Arctic Arrogance  who was second by just a half-length against open company in the Remsen Stakes (G2) at 1 1/8 miles over a sloppy track. The gray son of Frosted   trained by Linda Rice won the Sleepy Hollow Stakes for state-breds at a one-turn mile in his previous try.

"I thought he was at a bit of a disadvantage because he was pinned on the rail in a pool of water, but it was a great effort," Rice said about the Remsen. "He didn't get beat far and it was a long way back to third."

Rice is coming off a stellar fall meet at Aqueduct in which she was the leading trainer (20 wins) and owner (10).

Mr. Amore Stable's homebred Andiamo a Firenze , a New York-bred son of Speightstown  , also has graded stakes experience, finishing fourth in the Champagne Stakes (G1) at a flat mile. Second by a nose in the New York Breeders' Futurity as a 1-2 favorite for trainer Kelly Breen in his fifth and most recent try, the half brother to $2.7 million earner Firenze Fire  out of the Langfuhr  mare My Every Wish made his lone start beyond 6 1/2 furlongs in the Champagne.

Seacoast Thoroughbreds of New England's General Banker , a New York-bred son of Central Banker  , has the highest earnings in the field, thanks to a Dec. 17 win in the $500,000 New York Stallion Series stakes at Aqueduct. Trained by Jimmy Ferraro, General Banker romped by 8 1/2 lengths over a muddy track in the seven-furlong stakes for his first win in eight career starts.

BG Stables' Lugan Knight , who was third in a Nov. 26 allowance optional claiming race at Churchill Downs, is the only other starter who did not run for a claiming tag in his last race. A son of Goldencents   trained by Michael McCarthy, Lugan Knight was third behind Victory Formation , winner of the Jan. 1 Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park, in that most recent start.

Saturday's 10-race Big A card will also include the $150,000 Queens County Stakes for older horses which was rescheduled from Dec. 31 when the latter half of the card was cancelled due to fog.