Wicked Strong could get rest of the year off; V.E. Day likely headed to Aqueduct

Last updated: 9/28/14 3:18 PM

Wicked Strong could get rest of the year off; V. E. Day
likely headed to Aqueduct

Rajiv Maragh and Wicked Strong had no idea the trouble awaiting them in the JCGC

(NYRA/Adam Coglianese Photography)

Trainer Jimmy Jerkens reported that both of his Jockey Club
Gold Cup contenders — Wicked Strong and V. E. Day — returned from Saturday’s 1
1/4-mile Belmont Park race in good order.

Travers hero V. E. Day finished sixth after breaking from post position 10,
while Wicked Strong, the second choice in the betting behind winner Tonalist,
was unplaced after unseating jockey Rajiv Maragh about halfway through the race.

“Both horses came back good,” Jerkens said. “V. E. Day lost an
awful lot of ground early on. Post 10 is tough; I think it’s even tougher on a
come-from-behind horse.

“(Jockey Javier Castellano) wasn’t able to tuck him in turning in on the
backside and then he was stacked wide. He got him in a little bit on the turn,
but then he had to go and swing out again wide when you lose the most ground. I
think with a better post he would have gotten a check.”

Jerkens said it was likely that Wicked Strong, who lost
Maragh when bumped by Moreno, might not return to racing until 2015.

“It doesn’t look like we’re going to California with either
one of them,” Jerkens acknowledged. “There’s a chance we might give Wicked the rest of
the year off. He’s OK and everything, but he’s grinded it out pretty good and we
hope to have a nice handicap horse next year.”

The trainer said options remain open for V. E. Day,
including a possible return to turf in the Grade 3, $250,000 Red Smith on
November 15 or remaining on the main track against three-year-olds in the Grade
3, $200,000 Discovery Handicap on November 1, both at
Aqueduct.

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