With 60 points — 50 for his Gotham victory and 10 for his win in the Grade 3
The New York-bred colt will spend the next four weeks at Palm Meadows
“He came out of the race great,” said Rick Violette, who trains Samraat for
“Going to Florida this time is a different function than it was last time
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While Samraat’s margin of victory over Uncle Sigh shrunk from one length in
the Withers to a neck in the Gotham, Violette said he was even more impressed
with the colt’s performance on Saturday, as well as that of 20-year-old jockey
Jose Ortiz.
“I think both the horse and the rider rose to the occasion again,” the
trainer said. “I thought Jose rode a perfect race. It’s unusual for a young
rider not to override in those situations. They usually get to flailing, but he
never hit this horse. Maybe it’s experience beyond his years, or confidence, but
it’s very nice to see.
“Last time, we were very aggressive and almost could have gone to the lead,”
he added. “Samraat wasn’t as sharp leaving there as he was the race before but
still found a really good spot. From the five-eighths pole to the half, his
entrymate (Noble Cornerstone) was putting pressure on him, and neither horse nor
rider panicked. He changed leads and he moved into the race, and held the lane.
They both made little corrections and it will make him a better racehorse.
“What makes him really dangerous is he’ll do anything the rider asks him.”
Also emerging from the Gotham in top shape was Wounded Warrior Stables and
Anthony C. Roberston’s Uncle Sigh, who was runner-up to Samraat for the second
time in as many starts.
“He came out of the race excellent,” trainer Gary Contessa said. “He’s happy,
he ate up, and he looks like a million bucks.”
In the Gotham, Uncle Sigh pressed pacesetter In Trouble in second to the top
of the stretch before Samraat swept to the lead from the outside, and those two
and eventual third-place finisher In Trouble raced in tight quarters to the
finish. It was a different experience for Uncle Sigh, who had dictated the pace
in the Withers.
“Having to run the way he did probably didn’t help us any (in the Gotham),”
Contessa said. “Last time it was on the lead, (in the Gotham) it was between
horses, getting jostled.”
Contessa said that “unless somebody writes a New York-bred points race,”
Uncle Sigh likely will make his next start in the Wood Memorial.
In Trouble, making his three-year-old debut and his first start around two
turns, ran valiantly to finish third in the Gotham. After leading the field
through splits of :23 4/5 for the opening quarter-mile and :48 1/5 for the half,
the Tiz Wonderful colt was taken on by both Samraat and Uncle Sigh entering the
stretch, but dug in along the rail and was beaten by only a half-length for the
win.
Owned by Team D and trained by Tony Dutrow, the bay colt was undefeated
entering the race — having won both of his juvenile outings — including a win
in the Grade 2 Futurity at Belmont Park. The Gotham also marked his first race
beyond six furlongs.
His next start, said Dutrow, likely will be in the Wood Memorial.
“You can’t be too disappointed when they run like that,” Dutrow said. “Right
now my mind is on the Wood Memorial. He still has questions to answer and I’m
going to look at (the Wood).”
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