Instagrand Ships East for Season Debut in Gotham

OXO Equine's undefeated Instagrand will make his 2019 debut in the $300,000 Gotham Stakes (G3) March 9 at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby series, the one-mile Gotham offers qualifying points of 50-20-10-5 to the first four finishers. The race headlines a lucrative card that includes the $250,000 Busher Invitational, which offers 50-20-10-5 qualifying points to the top four finishers towards the May 3 Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs; the $200,000 Tom Fool Handicap (G3), a six-furlong sprint for 4-year-olds and up; and the $150,000 Stymie Stakes at a mile for 4-year-olds and up.

A $1.2 million purchase at Fasig-Tipton's The Gulfstream Sale in 2018, Instagrand romped by 10 lengths in his June 29 debut sprinting five furlongs at Los Alamitos. The Into Mischief  colt followed that effort Aug. 11 in the six-furlong Best Pal Stakes (G2), besting a five-horse field—including recent San Vicente Stakes (G2) winner Sparky Ville—by 10 1/4 lengths.

Hall of Fame conditioner Jerry Hollendorfer said the one-turn mile of the Gotham was an attractive alternative for Instagrand, who will arrive in New York Wednesday, rather than the 1 1/16-mile San Felipe Stakes (G2) also set for March 9 at his home track of Santa Anita Park.

"The distance of the race seems to be a better place to start, going a one-turn mile rather than a mile and a sixteenth at Santa Anita. He's been off for a while," Hollendorfer said.

Instagrand's work tab shows a steady stream of works at Santa Anita, his most recent a Feb. 25 effort in 1:26 3/5 for seven furlongs.

"He's training very nice. We think we have the horse good enough to run," Hollendorfer said. "He was always a well-meant horse, and Larry Best (of OXO Equine) spent quite a bit of money for him, and he's proven to be worth it."

Hollendorfer, who has conditioned notable Eclipse Award winners Blind Luck, Songbird, and the ill-fated Shared Belief, prefers to treat his trainees as individuals.

"I don't really like to compare horses. Each horse has their own individual way of learning and doing things, and we think that he's a very good prospect," Hollendorfer said.

With a Kentucky Derby (G1) winner one of the few missing bullet points on an impressive résumé, Hollendorfer said he will let his horse do the talking.

"We'd like to win it, but we'll have to have the horse to take us there," he said.

Also arriving from the West Coast for the Gotham is Three Chimneys Farm homebred Much Better. Trained by Hall of Fame conditioner Bob Baffert, Much Better is an improving son of Pioneerof the Nile , the sire of 2015 Triple Crown champion American Pharoah .

A winner on debut at Del Mar Sept. 1, Much Better came back to finish second on the turf in the Zuma Beach Stakes at Santa Anita ahead of a disappointing effort in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) in November at Churchill Downs.

Much Better returned to dirt for his seasonal debut Jan. 5, finishing third in the Sham Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita, and followed that effort with a frontrunning score in a 6 1/2-furlong optional-claiming allowance race on the Santa Anita main track.

"We were thinking this might be a good race to stretch him back out and see his ability," Baffert said. "I thought he ran solid in his last start, and we'd really like to see what he can do at two turns. He's a Pioneerof the Nile, and he has a lot of speed.

"Previously in the Sham when he went two turns, he seemed to be moving well and just came up a bit short towards the finish," Baffert continued. "He won his debut sprinting, and then we tried him out on the turf, but he's shown us enough on the dirt where we want to give him another shot to stretch out. And at a mile, this could be a good spot to do it."

In addition to Instagrand and Much Better, the prospective field for the Gotham includes grade 1 winners Mind Control and Knicks Go, multiple graded stakes winner Call Paul, and stakes winners Not That Brady and Haikal.

The improving Federal Case, High Crime, Spun to Run, and Tikhvin Flew are also under consideration to join the fray in search of Kentucky Derby qualifying points.

The Gotham will be featured live on "Fox Sports Saturday At The Races," airing on FS2, as part of a special broadcast that includes the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby (G2), the San Felipe, and the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) from Turfway Park. The Santa Anita Handicap (G1) will also be featured.