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‘Figuring Out What’s Best’: Velazquez Has Options For Remsen Winner Brooklyn Strong

Trainer Daniel Velazquez, who secured his first graded stakes win with New York-bred Brooklyn Strong in Saturday's Grade 2, $150,000 Remsen at the Big A, is considering a next spot with the son of second-crop sire Wicked Strong.

Brooklyn Strong battled gamely to the outside of Ten for Ten down the Aqueduct stretch, getting the better of his foe by a neck under jockey Joel Rosario.

With a triumph in the nine-furlong event for juveniles at the Ozone Park, N.Y., track Brooklyn Strong earned 10 qualifying points toward the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby scheduled for May 1, 2021, at Churchill Downs.

Brooklyn Strong returned to Delaware Park following the win and will eventually ship to Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pa., where the conditioner keeps a stable of about 20 horses.

Velazquez said he will consider all options for Brooklyn Strong, including the nine-furlong Grade 3, $250,000 Withers on February 6 at Aqueduct, which offers 10-4-2-1 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top-four finishers.

“We were so excited. We knew going in that it would be a step up in class against open company and he proved us right,” Velazquez said. “Right now, we just want to make sure we come back healthy. We'll give him a week or two to decompress, maybe Florida, maybe the Withers. We have options, it's just a matter of figuring out what's best.”

Velazquez learned the ropes under his father Alfredo Velazquez, who saddled Private Zone to Grade 1 victories in the 2014 Vosburgh and Cigar Mile.

Prior to the Remsen, he saddled Brooklyn Strong to a victory in the Sleepy Hollow on Empire Showcase Day, October 24 at Belmont Park and won the Maid of the Mist with Laobanonaprayer the same day.

“It's been getting better and better. A lot of hard work going into it,” Velazquez said. “It's almost unbelievable, we're all still shell shocked. We're excited.”

Brooklyn Strong, bred in New York by Cheryl Prudhomme and Dr. Michael Gallivan, was purchased by owner Mark Schwartz for $5,000 from OBS April 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale from the Coastal Equine consignment. He is out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Riviera Chic.

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Trainer Velazquez ‘Derby Dreaming’ After Brooklyn Strong’s Remsen Victory

Mark Schwartz's Brooklyn Strong showed up with a big effort in the final furlong to win the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct in Ozone Park, N.Y., over the 6-5 favorite, Ten for Ten.

Ten for Ten took an early lead, setting the pace through fractions of :23.67, :47.86, 1:12.69, and 1:37.96 on a sloppy track. Sent off at odds of 7-1, Brooklyn Strong challenged the leader in the stretch and pulled ahead to win the 1 1/8 mile race by a neck with Ten for Ten taking second and 8 3/4 lengths separating the two from the third place finisher, Known Agenda, followed by Pickin' Time and Erawan. Brooklyn Strong returned $16.20 on a $2 win bet.

Final time for 1 1/8 miles was 1:50.80.

“I was very confident going in,” winning trainer Daniel Velazquez said in a post-race interview. “I knew the distance was key and I was confident about the off track. I was happy with his performance. He really dug in. Today was a big showcase for him against tougher competition and I couldn't be happier.”

This is the first graded stakes win for the NewYork-bred gelding and the first for his sire, Wicked Strong, who has two crops to race. Brooklyn Strong is out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare, Riviera Chic. Prior to today's win, Brooklyn Strong had crossed the finish line first in two of three starts including the Sleepy Hollow Stakes at Belmont. Brooklyn Strong was purchased for $5,000 by Schwartz at the OBS 2-year-old in training sale in April of 2020. He was ridden today by Joel Rosario. This was the first graded stakes win for trainer Daniel Velazquez.

“I broke well and it looked like they were running away from me a little bit,” Rosario. “So I had to ride him to get position. I didn't want to let him fall back, so I rode him to stay within a couple of lengths. I was happy with how he was progressing and I was confident he was going to have something left for the end.”

Today's win earned the son of Wicked Strong 10 qualifying points for the 2021 Kentucky Derby.

“We'll come back healthy and then start picking our spots,” Velazquez said on earning the Derby points. “This is a big prep for the Derby moving forward. Now, we're definitely Derby dreaming.”

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NY-Bred Brooklyn Strong Upsets the Remsen

Native New Yorker Brooklyn Strong (Wicked Strong) earned his black-type badge against fellow Empire-breds last out in the Oct. 24 Sleepy Hollow S. and took his career to the next level Saturday with a gritty victory in the GII Remsen S. at Aqueduct.

Away alertly under Joel Rosario, the 7-1 shot raced two wide near the back of the quintet as favored Ten for Ten (Frosted) clicked off early splits of :23.67 and :47.86. Inching up into third alongside GIII Nashua S. victor Pickin’ Time (Stay Thirsty) on the backstretch run, they bay overtook that rival approaching the bend and set his sights on the pacesetter. Pulling away from the rest of the field in the lane, the pair slugged it out in the slop with Brooklyn Strong forging clear of a determined Ten for Ten in the final strides to win by a neck.

“I was very confident going in,” said trainer Daniel Velazquez, who registered his first graded win in the Remsen. “I knew the distance was key and I was confident about the off track. I was happy with his performance. He really dug in. Today was a big showcase for him against tougher competition and I couldn’t be happier.”

“I broke well and it looked like they were running away from me a little bit, so I had to ride him to get position,” said Rosario. “I didn’t want to let him fall back, so I rode him to stay within a couple of lengths. I was happy with how he was progressing and I was confident he was going to have something left for the end.”

Purchased for just $5,000 at the delayed OBS April Sale after breezing in :10 2/5, Brooklyn Strong was dangled for a $40,000 tag in his career bow at Delaware Sept. 12, which he won by three lengths. Third next out in the state-bred Bertram F. Bongard S. at Belmont Oct. 2, the gelding scored a decisive victory in the one-mile Sleepy Hollow at Belmont last out.

Pedigree Notes:

Brooklyn Strong is the first graded winner and one of three black-type victors for second-crop sire Wicked Strong, who scored a career high at the Big A when winning the 2014 GI Wood Memorial S. His SP dam Riviera Chic produced a Keen Ice colt last year and a Practical Joke colt May 4 of this year.

Saturday, Aqueduct
REMSEN S.-GII, $145,500, Aqueduct, 12-5, 2yo, 1 1/8m, 1:50.60, sy.
1–BROOKLYN STRONG, 120, g, 2, by Wicked Strong
1st Dam: Riviera Chic (SP), by Medaglia d’Oro
2nd Dam: Hurricane Warning, by Thunder Gulch
3rd Dam: Dewan’s Flag, by Dewan
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($30,000 Wlg ’18 FTNMIX; $42,000
RNA Ylg ’19 SARAUG; $6,000 RNA Ylg ’19 OBSOCT; $5,000 2yo
’20 OBSAPR). O-Mark Schwartz; B-Cheryl Prudhomme & Dr.
Michael Gallivan (NY); T-Daniel Velazquez; J-Joel Rosario.
$82,500. Lifetime Record: 4-3-0-1, $195,000. Werk Nick
Rating: C. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Ten for Ten, 118, c, 2, Frosted–Summer Vacation, by
Eskendereya. ($410,000 Ylg ’19 KEESEP). O-Courtlandt Farms
(Donald & Donna Adam); B-George Krikorian (KY); T-Claude R.
McGaughey III. $30,000.
3–Known Agenda, 118, c, 2, Curlin–Byrama (GB), by Byron (GB).
($135,000 RNA Ylg ’19 FTSAUG). O/B-St. Elias Stable (KY);
T-Todd A. Pletcher. $18,000.
Margins: NK, 8 3/4, 8 1/4. Odds: 7.10, 1.25, 1.95.
Also Ran: Pickin’ Time, Erawan.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Wicked Strong Relocated To Pin Oak Lane Farm In Pennsylvania

Grade 1 winner Wicked Strong will move to Pin Oak Lane Farm in New Freedom, Pa., for the 2021 breeding season, where he will stand for an advertised fee of $3,500, Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred reports.

The 9-year-old son of Hard Spun previously stood at Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky, where he entered stud in 2016.

From two crops of racing age, Wicked Strong has been represented by 64 winners, led by Puerto Rican Group 2 winner Wicked Runner, stakes winner Evil Lyn, and stakes-placed runners including Wicked Warrior, Secretly Wicked, Myawaya, Wicked Slider, and Brooklyn Strong.

Wicked Strong won three of 19 starts during his on-track career for earnings of $1,994,460. He broke his maiden at two, then became one of his division's top 3-year-olds with victories in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial Stakes and G2 Jim Dandy Stakes, and a runner-up effort in the G1 Travers Stakes. At four, he earned in-the-money finishes in the G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes and Woodward Stakes.

Wicked Strong is out of the winning Charismatic mare Moyne Abbey. His extended family includes Grade 1 winner Student Council, Grade 2 winner Classic Kris, and Grade 3 winners Gulch Approval, Rusty Slipper, Classic Value, and Gradepoint.