Triple Crown: Gotham Stakes picks and analysis
Joseph Aiello- March 1, 2025
Fifty Derby points are up for grabs this weekend at Aqueduct in the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes. With a field of ten going a mile on the dirt, these three-year-olds look to stake their claim to a spot in the Run for the Roses with mostly newcomers on the New York prep trail.
No Gotham winner has won the Kentucky Derby this century, and many end up dropping out of the Derby after disappointing follow up preps in the Wood Memorial. Perhaps this group will change that trend, but to date, only three have won stakes, and only one of those – Scorching’s win in the Simcoe at Woodbine – came outside of state-restricted company.
Linda Rice’s Sand Devil and Brad Cox’s Sacrosanct figure likely here as both enter unblemished and coming off stakes victories.
Sand Devil and Sacrosanct were both bred in New York and enter at morning line odds of 9/5 and 3/1, respectively. On the surface, these runners have separated themselves from an otherwise unproven group, with Ontario-bred Scorching and New York-bred Calling Card appearing to be their primary competition.
The speedy Sand Devil will break from post five directly to Sacrosanct’s outside, and looks to gain control of the early lead from his primary competitor. Most recently off of a gritty win in the Damon Runyan Stakes over this track last month, Sand Devil drew strong reviews from Rice following his career best effort.
“He came out of the race very well,” Rice said of Sand Devil. “I think since they went so slow early, the dynamics of the race were a bit odd, but all in all, he dug in during the stretch. He had to fight off a contender, which is probably good for him as far as fitness and experience.”
Rice then told NYRA’s press office that she hopes Sand Devil will come out of the Gotham well and then move to a nine-furlong try in the Wood Memorial. “I think he is fine at the mile. He has run well at one mile already. It might actually be better for him than the seven furlongs.”
THE PICKS
1. #5 Sand Devil (9-5) – Rice trainee looks for fourth straight win, and while last was close, it was a long way back to the rest
2. #4 Sacrosanct (3-1) – Four straight wins to kick off career, all in NY-bred company
3. #3 Calling Card (6-1) – Middle moves in last two before fading; maiden win was flashy
4. #8 McAfee (10-1) – Dutrow trainee makes season bow and gets tested for class
Sacrosanct appears to have a similar adjustment to make for Brad Cox, as he has done his best running going one turn, primarily at seven furlongs. While the mile shouldn’t be a problem as he won the Sleepy Hollow Stakes at that distance, a group of primarily forwardly placed runners could make the early going difficult.
Much like Sand Devil, Sacrosanct, four-for-four in his career, has been first or second at the first call in all of his starts. Returning jockey Manny Franco told NYRA that that, for Sacrosanct, is the catbird’s seat to “get the first run of the horses coming from behind.” As a winner of his four tries lifetime, all as post time favorite, this test with speed directly to his outside could put him in a difficult spot as he comes off the bench from December.
The rest of the Gotham field appears to be a step below these two favorites, but the 6/1 morning line Calling Card at least has the class to compete with the top runners. While his recent try in the Grade 3 Lecomte was underwhelming with an eighth-place finish, that simply could have resulted from a sloppy surface and late-charging running style. This Michael Maker trainee did have one of the best mile races of anyone in this group back in November, breaking his maiden by a whopping 17 lengths over this track. He would be the primary one to watch if the pace heats up early as Sacrosanct and Sand Devil go head-to-head with the potential for a longshot stretching out in distance to join them on the lead.
John Charalambous trains the inside breaking Scorching, who is the fourth runner with stakes experience as the winner of Woodbine’s Simcoe and, last out, Cup and Saucer by disqualification. That win came on turf however, with his previous two races over Woodbine’s artificial surface. The surface adjustment may be a negative, but the mile distance should be perfect for this colt by Uncle Mo. This tepid 10/1 longshot should find himself in the second grouping, waiting for a chance to pounce on tiring leaders.
Wins from the outside-breaking runners would be unexpected given their inexperience, but Brad Cox’s Flood Zone and Richard Dutrow’s McAfee have shown some late turn of foot in two tries each, albeit against lesser competition. The always dangerous Chad Brown trains the Juddmonte-owned Garamond, who won at Tampa as a first timer, will need to take a good step forward to contend.
The Gotham is the eighth race of Aqueduct’s Saturday card and goes off at 4:18 PM EST.
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