Bing Cherry Racing and Leonard Liberto's Capo Kane, a pace-setting third last out in the nine-furlong Grade 3 Withers, turns back to a one-turn mile in Saturday's Grade 3 Gotham at Aqueduct.
Trainer Harold Wyner put Capo Kane through a smart training session on Feb. 26 at Parx with the California-bred working behind a pair of horses before circling his company and completing the five-eighths breeze in 1:00.21.
“He worked real well. We had two horses set off in front of him and he sat behind them and got the dirt in his face and passed them. He finished off his work real strong,” said Wyner. “I know there's going to be a lot of speed in the Gotham and I don't think he needs to be on the lead.”
Wyner said Capo Kane, who has demonstrated a tendency to drift out during the stretch run, completed his work straight as an arrow.
“In his work the other day, he didn't drift out one little bit,” said Wyner. “He stayed right where he should be and went around the horses nicely and didn't drift at all. He's maturing. He's a lot bigger and wider now.”
The Street Sense colt picked up 10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points on New Year's Day when taking the one-mile Jerome. He added two additional qualifying points for his Withers effort and currently sits in 11th position in the standings with 12 points.
Wyner said the connections will consider a start in the Kentucky Derby if the $26,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Two-Year-Olds-In Training sale purchase posts a strong effort on Saturday with 50-20-10-5 qualifying points on the line.
“I still think this horse will get the mile and an eighth and the mile and a quarter,” said Wyner. “If he runs real well in the Gotham, I'm almost forced to try him in the Wood Memorial going a mile and an eighth [on April 6] to see if he'll get the distance because if he doesn't there won't be any point going to the Derby. The timing is close so we'll have to see how he runs in the Gotham and go from there.”
Capo Kane ran second on debut in October at Parx going seven furlongs and capped his juvenile year with a maiden-breaking 4 1/2-length score on Nov. 25 at the same track stretched out to a mile and 70 yards.
Capo Kane won his first stakes start – and sophomore bow – in gate-to-wire fashion, besting a five-horse Jerome field by 6 1/4 lengths, garnering a personal-best 84 Beyer.
Wyner said Capo Kane will ship to New York on the day of the race with jockey Dylan Davis to retain the mount.
The post ‘Maturing’ Capo Kane Cuts Back To One-Turn Mile For Gotham appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
