Graded stakes-placed Carmel Road will seek to prove his Kentucky Derby credentials when shipping to the East Coast for the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham going a one-turn mile on March 4 at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Carmel Road, a bay son of Champion-producing stallion Quality Road, was last seen finishing second traveling 1 1/16-miles in the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 17.
He graduated with a frontrunning score at second asking in August going a two-turn mile at Del Mar, building on his advantage through every point of call and strolling home an 8 3/4-length winner for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert.
Now trained by Tim Yakteen, Carmel Road will be making his sophomore debut in the Gotham which offers 50-20-15-10-5 Kentucky Derby points to the top-five finishers. He is owned by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert E. Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital and Catherine Donovan.
Carmel Road has fired bullets in his last two works, most recently going five furlongs in 59 seconds flat on Monday at Santa Anita.
“He worked very well last week and came out of it well,” said Tom Ryan, who manages the ownership group. “Last week's work made everyone pay attention. He cruised down there hard held and wanted to gallop out even further. He's a horse that's feeling great at the moment and this is the time of the year that you want your 3-year-olds to be doing well. The plans are firm at the moment that he will run in the Gotham as long as he's in good shape.”
Bred in Kentucky by Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, Carmel Road was bought for $650,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. He is out of the multiple stakes-winning Unbridled's Song mare Inspired.
Inspired is a half-sister to the Medaglia d'Oro mare Treasure – the dam of dual Grade 1-placed sophomore National Treasure. Coincidentally, National Treasure is owned by the same partnership as Carmel Road and could also be targeting Derby points in next Saturday's Grade 2 San Felipe at Santa Anita.
“National Treasure is out of a Medaglia d'Oro mare and you can see that in him. This one is a little more compact at this time,” Ryan said. “Both are beautifully balanced and well-made colts. We have loads of confidence in them both.”
A frontrunning victor on debut in September at Del Mar, National Treasure finished second in the Grade 1 American Pharoah the following month at Santa Anita before completing the trifecta in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile in November at Keeneland.
Ryan also mentioned the Gotham as a possible landing spot for graded stakes-placed Fort Warren, who recently joined the barn of Maryland-based conditioner Brittany Russell. The bay son of Curlin was a pacesetting first-out winner on October 30 at Santa Anita, defeating next-out winner Spun Intended by a half-length. He then completed the trifecta in the seven-furlong Grade 2 San Vicente on January 29 at the Southern California oval.
Ryan said Fort Warren's Gotham status will depend on how he works this weekend with the seven-furlong Grade 3, $200,000 Bay Shore on April 8 at the Big A also under consideration.
“He needs to tout himself and tell us that he's ready,” Ryan said. “If he is, we'll take a look. If not, we'll look at the Bay Shore.”
Fort Warren was bought for $550,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and is out of the graded-stakes placed Bernardini mare La Appassionata – a full-sister to graded stakes winner Wilburn.
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