Drum Roll Please Tops Small Field in Jerome

With a history that stretches back to 1866, the Jerome Stakes is one of the oldest races in American racing history.

It also has a rich tradition of featuring champions such as Tom Fool, Bold Ruler, Kelso, Carry Back, Housebuster, and Fusaichi Pegasus.

But that was then and this is now.

The Jerome will be run for the 154th time Jan. 6 at Aqueduct Racetrack, but instead of serving as a showcase for Kentucky Derby (G1) winners it will kick off a series of four somewhat disjointed Triple Crown preps in New York.

At a one-turn mile the $150,000 stakes for newly turned 3-year-olds will award 10-5-3-2-1 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top five finishers, which, in the case of this year's edition, makes it akin to a Little League participation trophy as all five entrants will receive at least a point.

The small field includes the graded stakes-placed Drum Roll Please . The Brad Cox-trained son of Hard Spun   has not raced since finishing third in the Dec. 2 Remsen Stakes (G2) at the Big A.

That test was at a two-turn, 1 1/8-mile distance. With the cutback to a one-turn mile here, and the New York road to Louisville continuing with the Feb. 3 Withers Stakes (G3) at the same conditions as the Remsen and then the one-turn mile Gotham Stakes (G3) March 2, Cox is simply focusing on Saturday's race as a means of kicking off the Gold Square runner's 3-year-old campaign. What happens next will be determined by what he sees in the Jerome.

"We're looking forward to getting his 3-year-old year started. He's coming off a good run (in the Remsen). I thought he ran really well behind two very good horses (Dornoch and Sierra Leone). He will keep improving and this looks like a great spot to get started," Cox said.

Bred by Barlar in Pennsylvania out of the E Dubai mare Imply , Drum Roll Please was sixth in his career debut July 29 over a sloppy track at Saratoga Race Course. He was a distant second in his next try at the Spa and then scored a two-length victory while staying closer to the pace in an Oct. 6 mile maiden special weight race at Aqueduct.

"He ran so well when he broke his maiden at Aqueduct in a one-turn mile that he obviously likes the distance. We're cutting back a little bit and that doesn't mean we will not get back to a mile-and-an-eighth. But this race looked right on paper and, based on how he's been doing, he's ready to run."

Only two of the other starters have competed in a graded stakes. Both were well-beaten.

Barry Schwartz's New York-bred El Grande O  was sixth in the Champagne Stakes (G1), 16 1/4 lengths behind. Yet the son of Take Charge Indy   has two wins in state-bred stakes, including the mile Sleepy Hollow Stakes at Aqueduct in his most recent try for trainer Linda Rice.

Built Wright Stables' Sweet Soddy J  was eighth in the Champagne, nearly 38 lengths behind, but the Bee Jersey   gelding is exiting a front-running win in the seven-furlong Heft Stakes at Laurel Park for trainer Raymond Ginter Jr.

Calumet Farm's Khanate , a Hightail   colt, will be making his stakes debut for trainer Todd Pletcher. A 10 1/2-length winner of a restricted maiden special weight race at Keeneland, he was sixth in an allowance optional claimer at Churchill Downs last time out.

Harry Papaleo's Regalo , a Maximus Mischief   3-year-old trained by Brittany Russell, exits allowance optional claiming and maiden wins at Laurel Park.