Chiefswood Stables' Weyburn earned a career-best 95 Beyer Speed Figure for his dramatic nose score over Crowded Trade in Saturday's Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham, a one-turn mile for sophomores at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.
The Ontario homebred, trained by Jimmy Jerkens and piloted by Trevor McCarthy, exited the gate at 46-1. He bucked those odds and earned 50 qualifying points from his upset score towards the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on May 1 at Churchill Downs.
Weyburn made his sophomore debut in the Gotham after a third-out December 5 maiden victory over sloppy and sealed conditions at the Queens County oval.
The dark bay son of multiple champion producer Pioneerof the Nile rated in second from his outside post just a half-length off pacesetter Freedom Fighter, dueled to the inside of Crowded Trade down the lane and got his nose on the wire first to complete the journey in 1:38.70.
Jerkens said Weyburn was in good order on Sunday morning.
“He looked good and sound and it looked like he ate up pretty well,” said Jerkens, whose lone Derby starter Wicked Strong, finished fourth in 2014. “He might be a little subdued and tired, but he'll bounce back quickly.”
The next and final local qualifying Derby prep is the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino on April 3 at Aqueduct, offering 100-40-20-10 qualifying points.
Jerkens said he was still unsure as to whether or not his newly minted stakes winner would target a two-turn debut in the nine-furlong event.
“We'll nominate to all of the obvious races, but we don't know what we're doing yet,” Jerkens said.
Weyburn is not Triple Crown nominated but Jerkens said he will likely be supplemented for $6,000. Any horse not nominated to the Triple Crown can be made eligible by March 29.
Weyburn is out of the A.P. Indy mare Sunday Affair, who also produced Chiefswood Stables' homebred and multiple graded stakes winner Yorkton.
Jerkens said multiple graded stakes winner Rocketry will arrive at his Belmont Park stable on Monday from Centennial Farm in Middleburg, Va.
The durable 7-year-old son of Hard Spun was last seen ending a nine-race slump when coming from ten lengths off the pace to win the 1 5/8-mile Grade 2 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance on November 6 at Keeneland.
Jerkens said Rocketry will target the 12-furlong Grade 2, $400,000 Brooklyn on June 4 at Belmont Park. He was a close second to Marconi in the 2019 edition of the Brooklyn.
“The Brooklyn is in the plan, but how we get there I'm not sure,” Jerkens said.
Bred in Kentucky by Gainesway Farm, Rocketry is out of the Smart Strike mare Smart Farming and was purchased by his owners for $450,000 at the 2015 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
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