Aqueduct: Raise Cain delivers in G3 Gotham; Shidabhuti runs them down in $200K Busher

By Mary Eddy

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Andrew Warren and Rania Warren’s Raise Cain announced his presence on the Road to the Kentucky Derby with an emphatic open-lengths score for trainer Ben Colebrook in Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham, a one-turn mile for 3-year-olds, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Raise Cain earned the maximum qualifying points towards the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby as part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby series, which awarded the top-five finishers points on a 50-20-15-10-5 scale. Raise Cain, who entered with four points to his credit, now boasts 54 total points.

Ridden by Jose Lezcano, the bay son of Violence scored the first stakes victory of his career on the heels of a sophomore debut over Tufway Park’s synthetic on January 21 when a distant fifth around two turns in the one-mile Leonatus. Raise Cain made his first dirt start since a second-place finish in the December 26 Gun Runner going 1 1/16-miles at Fair Grounds, which came one start after a third-place finish in the six-furlong Bowman Mill in October at Keeneland. The Gotham was his first victory since a second-out graduation sprinting seven furlongs in October at Keeneland.

“He finally had some pace to run into, and I think that’s what he’s been missing to be honest,” said Colebrook. “He never really had any pace to close into except in his maiden win. I don’t know that it’s necessarily one turn that he needs, but I definitely think pace to close into is what he needs because he’s such a relaxed horse and he can make that one big run like he did today. More credit goes to Jose for the ride. It was just a phenomenal ride.”

Emerging from post 11 in the 14-horse field, Raise Cain broke cleanly and saved ground near the rear of the field as Howgreatisnate stumbled from post 2 and unseated jockey J. D. Acosta. The trio of Eyeing Clover, Recruiter and Carmel Road were head-to-head exiting the chute before Recruiter came away with a slim advantage through an opening quarter-mile in 22.52 seconds over the muddy and sealed main track.

Raise Cain continued to stalk in ninth under a patient Lezcano down the backstretch as Carmel Road took command and was passed by the riderless Howgreatisnate with Eyeing Clover and Recruiter coming under a ride to his outside after a half-mile in 45.53. Raise Cain raced three-wide approaching the turn and was angled to the inside by Lezcano mid-turn, steadying slightly as he ran up on the heels of Mr. Swagger and opting to maneuver around the outside of that foe as he approached the top of the lane.

Carmel Road clung to a precarious lead over Eyeing Clover as Recruiter tired, but could not fend off the former and lost the advantage with an eighth of a mile to the finish. Raise Cain made up ground with every stride to the outside of Eyeing Clover and passed his foe with ease in mid-stretch, drawing away strongly from the late bid of Slip Mahoney from 13th and posting the 7 1/2-length victory in a final time of 1:38.09.

Seacoast Thoroughbreds of New England’s New York homebred General Banker came on late to finish 1 1/2 lengths behind Slip Mahoney and secured show honors by a nose over Eyeing Clover. Clear the Air, Mr. Swagger, Lugan Knight, Carmel Road, Radio Red, Transect, Recruiter, Uncorrelated and Clubhouse completed the order of finish. Howgreatisnate completed the course and was collared by the outrider after the finish. Both horse and rider walked off under their own power. Fort Warren, who is entered in Monday’s City of Brotherly Love at Parx Racing, was scratched.

Colebrook, who won his first Big A graded stake, said Raise Cain gives his best effort with a quick tempo in front of him and has improved greatly since finishing eighth on debut in September at Churchill Downs.

“He’s bred to go longer and if he were to go on to the Derby, you usually get plenty of pace in there,” said Colebrook. “I think more than anything pace is what he needs. He’s never run a bad race. The first race you can throw out because he’s so lackadaisical and he didn’t know what was going on until after the race. I ran him back after his maiden win going three-quarters [in the Bowman Mill] just because the race was at Keeneland. I probably ran him back too quick and six furlongs might be a little too sharp. But he didn’t run bad that day and the synthetic race was what it was. It just wasn’t the right surface for the horse.”

Lezcano said Raise Cain was professional in victory.

“My horse broke very sharp. I let him break running away from there and when I passed the chute, I saw everybody looking and going outside,” said Lezcano. “I crossed outside to inside and my horse did everything so easy. He did whatever I asked him to do.”

Lezcano, who scored back-to-back Gotham triumphs after piloting Morello to victory last year, praised Raise Cain’s athleticism when running up on the Carlos Olivero-piloted Mr. Swagger in the turn.

“I think the Carlos Olivero horse was in the second path and I tried to go through, but when I tried to go through he came over and I had to check a little bit and go around,” said Lezcano. “My horse did it very easy. He’s a very light horse and when I asked him, he got right back into the race.

Raise Cain has been nominated to the Grade 1 Blue Grass on April 8 at Keeneland, but Colebrook did not rule out the possibility of returning to the Big A for the nine-furlong Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino on the same day. Both races offer 100-40-30-20-10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top-five finishers.

“It’s too early to tell, but we’re nominated to the Blue Grass and we’ll nominate to the Wood Memorial. It’ll probably be one of those two races and we’ll see how it plays out and go to whichever race looks like the best option,” Colebrook said. “You got a race in your own backyard and a race that he’s shipped and won over the track. When you ship, it’s always an unknown and now that we’ve shipped here it’s not an unknown for him. Those are two things to think about. So much changes day to day with 3-year-olds and the division and that stuff. It’s like my old boss Christophe Clement would say, ‘It’s a good problem to have.’”

Bred in Kentucky by Rock Ridge Thoroughbreds, Raise Cain earned a winning share of $165,000 for his victory and improved his lifetime record to 6-2-1-1. He returned $49 for a $2 win ticket.

Trevor McCarthy, who guided Slip Mahoney from off the pace to land place honors, said a poor break may have actually benefited the Brad Cox trainee.

“I really didn’t get a good break. After that, they were flying up front so I just let him settle. The way the closers were playing the last few races, especially with the pace, maybe it was a blessing in disguise,” said McCarthy. “I had to make a wide rally. There were just so many horses that were backing up in front of me. I had a super-wide rally, but he seemed to finish really well and that was probably the better part of the track anyway.”

Live racing resumes Sunday at the Big A with a nine-race card. First post is 1:20 p.m. Eastern.

America’s Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Aqueduct winter meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the best way to bet every race of the Aqueduct Racetrack winter meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

Shidabhuti runs them down in $200K Busher

By Ryan Martin

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Peter Brant’s Shidabhuti stalked a moderate tempo and launched a devastating late kick in deep stretch to conquer her stakes debut in Saturday’s $200,000 Busher for sophomore fillies going a one-turn mile at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Shidabhuti, by Practical Joke, earned 50 qualifying points towards the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on May 5 at Churchill Downs in capturing the Busher – the penultimate local qualifier for the prestigious event. She entered off two victories in as many starts, the most recent of which was a two-length win in a local allowance optional claimer on January 22 going the Busher distance. She broke her maiden in September going six furlongs at Monmouth Park.

Piloted by Dylan Davis from post 5, Shidabhuti maintained her outside position while fellow Chad Brown trainee Asset Purchase, the 4-5 post time favorite, did battle with Ziaerati on the front end through an opening quarter-mile in 23.54 seconds and a half-mile in 47.75 over the muddy and sealed main track.

Around the far turn, Asset Purchase established a clear advantage with Trevor McCarthy going all out aboard Ziaerati. Asset Purchase lengthened to a two-length lead at the stretch call under Manny Franco, but Shidabhuti loomed large on the far outside and collared her stablemate in the final strides to win by two lengths to stop the clock in 1:39.03.

Asset Purchase finished 1 1/4 lengths to the better of Capella, who launched an inside rally to finish third. Ziaerati, La Vita Sofia and Check Engine Light rounded out the order of finish.

“My thought was to be forwardly placed. I thought there was going to be more speed. I’m happy with where I was at, but we got some early pressure around the half-mile pole and she didn’t really like it too much,” said Davis. “I just let her get a feel for it and she got some rhythm at the three-eighths pole and she really started extending at the eighth-pole. I was keeping her to task. Just like her last race, it took her a while to get running and to build that momentum up to where she was able to finish it off. Again today, I had to ride her a little early, but once we straightened up again around the eighth pole, she found her stride again. I thought she handled this track pretty well.”

Davis, who also piloted Shidabhuti to her last out score, said the filly improved out of her last race.

“She felt a lot stronger today. She finished a lot stronger,” Davis commented. “She was a little green last time and a little spotty, but today she was a little more focused.”

Shidabhuti, who returned $12.60 for a $2 win wager, provided Brown with his second Busher victory after he sent out Search Results to a win in 2021.

Brown said he was pleased with the performance of both of his fillies.

“Dylan used good judgement on Shidabhuti to stay close and they weren’t going really fast. He put her in the clear in the stretch and he timed it just right,” Brown said. “With Asset Purchase, I thought she ran well but in hindsight maybe Manny should have allowed her to run a little more early and open up a little. He kept her restrained and kept the rest of the field in the race. But she still gave a good effort.

“[Shidabhuti] is just a horse who is improving and I know her numbers didn’t look that fast going into the race, but now she’s won all three of her starts, so it’s hard to fault her,” Brown added. “She has continued to improve and she should continue to improve with distance.”

Brown said Shidabhuti would “probably” target the Grade 3, $250,000 Gazelle – the final local Kentucky Oaks qualifier which awards the top-five finishers points based off a 100-40-30-20-10 scale.

Asset Purchase, who earned 20 qualifying Oaks points when finishing second, entered off an eight-length debut triumph sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs over the local going. Franco said he had a comfortable trip.

“I stayed just off [Ziaerati] that I thought was the horse to beat, but my filly got a little tired at the end going a mile for the first time today,” Franco said.

Banking $110,000 in victory, Shidabhuti brought her lifetime earnings to $189,600 while bragging an unbeaten record in three starts.

Bred in Kentucky by Gabriel Duignan and Gerry Dilger, Shidabhuti is out of the Candy Ride mare A.P. Candy and was a $310,000 purchase at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Her third dam is multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire Dream Supreme, who produced Grade 1-winner and producer Majestic Warrior.

Live action returns Sunday at the Big A with a nine-race card. First post is 1:20 p.m. Eastern.

America’s Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Aqueduct winter meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the best way to bet every race of the Aqueduct Racetrack winter meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.