Derby, Oaks draw strong fields

Finger Lakes offers one of the better cards of its season Saturday, with the upstate wine-country track holding the $150,000 New York Derby and the $75,000 New York Oaks.

Trainers Rudy Rodriguez and Charlton Baker have top contenders in both 1 1/16-mile races for New York-breds. Rodriguez will send out Broken Engagement in the Derby and morning-line favorite Bonita Bianca in the Oaks. Baker answers with threetime stakes winner Gold for the King in the Derby and Tiznow’s Smile in the Oaks.

Twisted Tom jazzes up the Derby since he will be making his first start since finishing sixth in the Belmont Stakes. Twisted Tom will be Chad Brown’s third career starter at Finger Lakes and his first since 2015. Jockey Feargal Lynch, who won a pair of two-turn stakes on Twisted Tom in the spring at Laurel Park, will make his Finger Lakes debut.

Home-field advantage goes to Baker, who has won more than 1,200 races at Finger Lakes, where his father once trained. Baker, a 51-year-old native of Jamaica, is a fixture at the New York Racing Association tracks but maintains a stable at Finger Lakes, where he is 11 for 51 this year.

Gold for the King races for his breeder, Francis Paolangeli. Baker and Paolangeli won the 2009 New York Oaks with Gold for the King’s dam, Gold for the Queen.

Gold for the King finished second, beaten a neck, in his last start, the six-furlong Ontario County at Finger Lakes. The 3-10 favorite, he raced wide and made a middle move into a fast pace.

“I didn’t like the ride,” Baker said. “He was four wide the whole way, and I thought he was rushed. He should have been five lengths back with that pace and come running.”

Baker is bringing in Mike Luzzi for the New York Derby.

Gold for the King will be stretching out around two turns for the first time.

“I think he can get the distance, even though maybe it’s not his best,” Baker said. “Two turns at Finger Lakes is more like a sprint race because of the sharp turns.”

Broken Engagement has won two statebred off-the-turf races at Belmont Park in his most recent starts. He won a 1 1/16mile maiden race in May and a 1 1/8-mile allowance in June. He is not as quick as Gold for the King but does have tactical speed.

Twisted Tom, the morningline favorite, must be sure not to drop too far back early.

Pat On the Back is 2 for 2 at Finger Lakes for trainer Kenny McPeek. He won the Aspirant last year at age 2 and defeated Gold for the King in the Ontario County. His regular rider, Dylan Davis, has the mount.

Tiznow’s Smile, Baker’s entry in the Oaks, had a poor start last out in the six-furlong Niagara Stakes at Finger Lakes but finished strongly to be second.

“She broke in a tangle, got her legs crossed,” Baker said. “That track is funny. Some horses don’t get hold of it right away. It is very different than what she had been training on at Belmont.”

Tiznow’s Smile won a maiden race going two turns over the inner track at Aqueduct last December. In her next start, she was second to Bonita Bianca in the East View Stakes at one mile and 70 yards.

“The distance is great for her,” Baker said. “I think she is going to be a two-turn filly.”

Bonita Bianca went 3 for 4 last year at 2, scoring emphatic wins in the East View and Maid of the Mist. In her 3-year-old debut, she finished fourth, beaten 14 lengths, at even-money in a Monmouth optional-claiming race. Rodriguez has worked her three times since then and adds blinkers for the Oaks.