Gotham No Sure Derby Path for Sunny Ridge

Trainer Jason Servis is grappling with mixed emotions as he prepares to start Sunny Ridge in the March 5 Gotham Stakes (gr. III) at Aqueduct Racetrack.

He yearns to win the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) as much as any trainer. Yet there is another element to him that wants no part of a full field of 20 in the Derby, and the Triple Crown grind goes against his preference for giving his horses ample recovery time.

Servis knows exactly how demanding it can be. He was there when John, his younger brother by two years at 57, saddled Smarty Jones   to victories in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes (gr. I). Longshot Birdstone   denied their Triple Crown bid and they settled for a runner-up finish in the Belmont Stakes (gr. I).

The excitement contained in those three races in five weeks exceeded anything Servis experienced before or since. He took so much pride in John's accomplishment with a Pennyslvania-bred based at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pa., that it was almost as if he had conditioned Smarty himself.

He also is keenly aware that Smarty Jones' career underscores how taxing the road to the Triple Crown and those races themselves can be. A weary Smarty Jones, winner of seven of eight career starts, was retired to stud by August of his 3-year-old campaign with bruises in all four cannon bones.

Servis—Jason, that is—faces a very different set of circumstances with Sunny Ridge. Stallion value is not a consideration even as the New Jersey-bred gelding from the last crop of 1994 Horse of the Year Holy Bull is well on his way to qualifying for the Derby with 18 points.

Sunny Ridge placed second to Greenpointcrusader in the Champagne Stakes (gr. I) last Oct. 3 at Belmont Park. He closed his 2-year-old campaign in rousing fashion, missing by just a neck to well-regarded Exaggerator in the Delta Downs Jackpot Stakes (gr. III) Nov. 21. Both efforts came on wet tracks.

PEDULLA: Sunny Ridge Prevails in Withers Stakes

Sunny Ridge made an auspicious 3-year-old debut when he defeated Vorticity by three-quarters of a length in the Jan. 30 Withers Stakes (gr. III) on a fast surface at Aqueduct. He is taking another step toward the Derby with the Gotham, but Servis is far from committed to being at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May.

"If I get there, I get there," he said. "If I don't, I don't."

Servis said of his decision to take the next step on New York's road to the Triple Crown by entering the Gotham: "The Gotham is probably going to be a lot easier than the Wood. But if he wasn't doing good, we wouldn't run him."

The Wood Memorial Stakes (gr. I) will be contested April 9 at Aqueduct as one of the last major Derby preps.

Servis' style may not be conducive to Derby success. Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, won gained his fourth Derby triumph when American Pharoah   secured the Triple Crown last year, is known for putting stiff works into his 3-year-olds to prepare them for the rigors of the Derby.

Servis, 59, takes a starkly different approach with an eye toward extending the longevity of his stock.

Sunny Ridge was given a "maintenance" breeze Feb. 19 at Belmont in which he covered four furlongs in :51 4/5, one second faster than his breeze on Feb. 15 but hardly blazing.

"I'm just trying to stay out of his way and get him over there," Servis said.

CURRY: Making the Grade: Sunny Ridge

While he emphasized that he is not ruling out the Derby, the trainer reiterated plans he detailed after the Withers by saying the Preakness and Haskell Invitational (gr. I) at Monmouth Park remain primary targets. Dennis Drazin, Sunny Ridge's breeder and owner, oversees Monmouth.

"To have a horse with a shot in there would be very exciting," Servis said of the Haskell.

John Servis praised his brother's handling of Sunny Ridge while noting that they have not discussed the gelding's Derby prospects. "He'll probably keep it to himself," he said, adding that Jason has always been an independent thinker.