Darley Stables and trainer Kiaran McLaughlin have the co-entered 7-2 second choice in the field, Long River and Valid. Long River finished fourth in Aqueduct’s Grade II Jerome (Jan. 5) in his last start and broke his maiden over this track. Valid faced Jerome winner Vyjack in his first race and was beaten by him by over 12 lengths. Valid shipped to Laurel Park and dropped in class to break his maiden New Year’s Eve.
A pair of longshots worthy of watching in this field is 8-1 Siete de Oros and 15-1 Amerigo Vespucci. Both come out of the Jerome Stakes and have some stakes and allowance experience on their resumes. Siete de Oros finished second by a head in the Jerome and Amerigo Vespucci was three lengths behind him in third. Both have two wins in five starts. Amerigo Vespucci has never finished off the board and will add blinkers.
The Robert B. Lewis is the 4th race on the Santa Anita card with a scheduled post time of 5:03 p.m. EST. The Sam F. Davis is the 11th race on the Tampa Bay Downs card with a scheduled post time of 5:23 p.m. EST and the Withers Stakes is the 9th on the Aqueduct card with a scheduled post time of 4:18 p.m. EST. All races can be seen on HRTV and TVG. Past performances for these races are being offered free from Brisnet.
Photo: BreedersCup.com
