Mo Town seeks strong follow-up
Remsen winner Mo Town, sitting in a tie for eighth place with 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, will make his 3-year-old debut in Saturday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Risen Star Stakes at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans. A victory would give Mo Town 50 additional points toward entry into the Run for the Roses on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs.
The Risen Star is the first of 16 races in the Kentucky Derby Championship Series that will lead into the Derby.
The son of Uncle Mo, trained by Tony Dutrow, Mo Town has raced three times, including an impressive 21⁄ length victory with John Velazquez up in the Grade 2, $300,000 Remsen Stakes at 11⁄ miles Nov. 26 at Aqueduct.
“He’s the kind of horse who has the speed and stamina you like to see,” Dutrow said. “When the rider needs him, he has the athleticism to get the distance.”
Dutrow said he really likes the Risen Star for Mo Town.
“The date of the race is perfect, and the Fair Grounds has a good, safe racetrack and one of the best surfaces in the country,” he said.
He also said how the colt finished in the Risen Star would dictate where Mo Town might be headed for his final tuneup.
“Obviously going back to Aqueduct for the Wood Memorial is a possibility, but so is the Blue Grass,” he said. “First, we’ll start with the Risen Star.”
Gormley impressive:
Sham Stakes winner Gormley, one of the West’s leading Triple Crown contenders, worked 4 furlongs on Santa Anita’s “fast” main track Monday in 47.80 under regular rider and threetime Kentucky Derby winner Victor Espinoza.
Gormley, tied for second in the Kentucky Derby points standings with 20, could run next at Santa Anita in the Grade 2, $400,000 San Felipe Stakes at 11⁄ miles March 11 or in the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park on March 18.
Espinoza, winner of the Kentucky Derby in 2002 (War Emblem), 2014 (California Chrome) and 2015 (with Triple Crown winner American Pharoah), said, “Gormley felt good. He galloped out nice. He does things so easy; you couldn’t ask for anything better.”
Long shot Zakaroff wins:
Zakaroff scored the second-biggest upset in the 36-year history of the Grade 3, $200,450 El Camino Real Derby on Saturday, scoring a halflength victory at nearly 49-1 odds in the premier race for 3-year-olds at Golden Gate Fields in Berkeley, Calif.
Zakaroff, by the far the longest shot on the board, outfinished evenmoney favorite Ann Arbor Eddie by a half-length in the 11⁄ mile race in 1:51.34 More Power to Him was third, another 11⁄ lengths back, a length ahead of fourth-place Tribal Storm.
But Ann Arbor Eddie was disqualified to fourth after drifting out in the stretch, bumping and impeding Tribal Storm. More Power to Him was moved to second and Tribal Storm to third.