'Road to Kentucky Derby' Championship Series Continues With Saturday's Gotham
Feb 28, 2013
Overanalyze, who nosed out Normandy Invasion to win the Remsen (Grade II), will make his 3-year-old debut and break outside 11 other sophomores in Saturday’s $400,000 Gotham (GIII), which continues the “Road to the Kentucky Derby” Championship Series.
The Top 4 finishers in the Gotham, which is scheduled as Race 10 on the 11-race Aqueduct program at 5:02 p.m. (all times Eastern), will be awarded points on a 50-20-10-5 scale as part of the First Leg of the Championship Series.
The First Leg of the Championship Series kicked off last weekend with the Shug McGaughey-trained Orb winning the Besilu Stables Fountain of Youth (GII) at Gulfstream Park and 135-1 shocker Ive Struck a Nerve nosing out Code West in the Risen Star (GII) at Fair Grounds. The victories vaulted Ive Struck a Nerve into first place in the Road to the Kentucky Derby point standings and Orb into second place.
Repole Stable’s Overanalyze, a half-brother to 2006 Matron (GI) winner Meadow Breeze, enters the Gotham ranked ninth in the Road to the Kentucky Derby point standings. Trained by 2010 Kentucky Derby winner Todd Pletcher, Overanalyze will be guided by 2011 Kentucky Derby winner John Velazquez.
The main rivals for Overanalyze are likely to be the undefeated Vyjack, who enters the Gotham off a narrow victory in the Jerome (GII) in January and Escapefromreality, who is coming off a runner-up effort to Revolutionary in the Withers (GIII).
The Rudy Rodriguez-trained Vyjack, who races under the colors of Pick Six Racing, will be ridden by Joel Rosario for the first time Saturday and will break from post eight.
MeB Racing Stables LLC and Brooklyn Boyz Stables’ Escapefromreality, who earned four points for his second-place finish in the Withers, will break from post two under David Cohen.
10 THINGS TO WATCH THIS WEEK
1. Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager opens at noon on Friday and closes Sunday at 6 p.m. (ET).
2. The lone Kentucky Oaks Future Wager pool opens at noon on Friday and closes Sunday at 6:30 p.m. (ET).
3. Remsen winner Overanalyze makes his 3-year-old debut in the $400,000 Gotham at Aqueduct on Saturday and will break from the outside in post 12. Hansen won from post 12 last year.
4. Undefeated Vyjack, winner of the Jerome in January, puts his perfect record on the line against Overanalyze and 11 other rivals in the Gotham.
5. Titletown Five, co-owned by football legends Paul Hornung and Willie Davis, makes his 3-year-old debut in the Gazebo at Oaklawn Park on Saturday.
6. Undefeated Departing, who scratched from last Saturday's Risen Star, runs in Saturday's Texas Heritage at Sam Houston against seven rivals.
7. Renee’s Titan and champion 2-year-old filly Beholder, the 1-2 finishers in the Santa Ynez, rematch in Saturday’s Las Virgenes on the ‘Road to the Kentucky Oaks.’
8. Fiftyshadesofhay, 5 ¾-length winner of the Santa Ysabel, seeks to stamp herself as a legitimate Kentucky Oaks contender in the Las Virgenes.
9. So Many Ways, who has not raced since winning the Spinaway at Saratoga, makes her 3-year-old debut in Friday's Primal Force at Gulfstream Park.
10. Avare, winner of the Eddie Logan at Santa Anita for U of L men's basketball coach Rick Pitino, runs in Saturday's John Battaglia Memorial at Turfway Park.
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