That was when gasoline sold for 39 cents a gallon and the No. 1 song that swept the nation was “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree” by Tony Orlando and Dawn.
The last time a Gotham winner finished second in the Kentucky Derby was in 1989, when Easy Goer finished second to Sunday Silence.
Today, the Gotham awards 50-25-15-10-5 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, likely putting the three-year-old winner in the field of 20 for the May 2 first jewel in the Triple Crown. But with the Gotham contested on a mile of one turn Aqueduct racecoursethe winners list is filled with sprinters better suited to the 7 furlong Woody Stephens Stakes (G1) than the 1 1/4 mile Run for the Roses.
Still, trainer Chad Brown believes streak and mold could potentially be shattered by his Feb. 28 winner of the $300,000 Gotham, Iron honor .
The son of the 2016 Kentucky Derby winner is running for the second time Nyquist came away late to win the Gotham by a length as a 4-5 favorite ($3.88) and convince Brown that the April 4 Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) at 1 1/8 miles and the Kentucky Derby are in play for the colt of St. Elias Stable, William Lawrence and Glassman Racing.
“The Wood is definitely on the radar. He remains in New York and I wouldn’t rule out the Derby,” Brown said. “He has gained a lot of experience today. He has a lot of basis. He has been under our care since the summer and has had two good races. The Wood will tell us a lot. He is a fast horse on the speed figures.”
The Gotham marked only the second career start for Iron Honor, who posted an impressive speed figure in his debut on December 13 in a 6-furlong maiden special weight race at the Big A. He was then shipped to Florida, where a minor problem cost him some training time. His daylong bus ride arrived in New York on February 25, allowing only a gallop on race night to stretch his legs to the Gotham.
“I thought he rode great. He showed a lot of heart and he will be much better for the race,” Brown said before the race. “I think he can really move forward.”
The Kentucky Derby would in theory be Iron Honor’s fourth career start, but that doesn’t bother Brown.
“You can catch up with a horse that’s trying to get to a figure they need for the Kentucky Derby, but he’s different. You can’t get away from the lack of experience, but he has a good 2-year-old number. If he can get to that number, he will be one of the few horses that can run that fast in early May. He was bred for a distance and it seemed like he was interested in going more distance at the canter,” said Brown, who also trains the top prospect in the Triple Crown series. Paladin for different connections.
Iron Honor and jockey Manny Franco battled for the lead Crown the Buckeye by fractions of :46.30 and 1:11.45 in what turned into a two-horse duel. Iron Honor eventually took the lead in the final furlong, being clocked in 1:37.94 on a track judged to be good.
“I feel like the horse can go a mile,” Franco said. “There is still room for improvement. Race after race he is learning.”
Paradise Farms, David Staudacher and Hooties Racing’s Crown the Buckeye earned 25 points for his second-place finish, giving the Ohio-bred total 28 points in the Road to the Kentucky Derby standings. He is not nominated for the Triple Crown.
“Second best. He rode a good race,” jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. said. who rode Crown the Buckeye, a son of Jaap for trainer Mike Maker. “The horse that hit us, you’ll see it’s a nice horse.”
Chester Broman Sr.’s Right to party (Through Constitution ) finished 6 1/2 lengths back in third place for trainer Ken McPeek, but is also not nominated for the spring classics.
Iron Honor, which was purchased for $475,000 by agent Monique Delk from the Gainesway consignment at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, was bred in Kentucky by Mike and Pat Freeny from the Debt mare Orencia. He is her second foal and the first to race. She also has a 2-year-old son Audible foal named Spears.
Video: Gotham S. (G3)
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