Six days later than expected, New York’s Road to the Kentucky Derby will be plowed and open for business. Extreme cold forced a cancelation of the Jan. 31 stakes and delayed it until Friday at Aqueduct. There was only one defection from the original Withers Stakes field of eight leaving seven 3-year-olds to travel 1 1/8 miles with 20 Kentucky Derby qualifying points going to the winner.

1. Grittiness: Still a maiden after four starts. Faced better company last time out in the Remsen Stakes and finished fifth. Could figure in the superfecta here.

JOCKEY: Ricardo Santana Jr.; TRAINER: Todd Pletcher

2. Schoolyardsuperman: One of two Chad Brown-trained entrants coming off nice maiden wins. He’ll be tackling two turns for the first time after winning by 5 ¾ lengths at a flat mile. But if he can duplicate his last try, he will be a top contender.

JOCKEY: Manny Franco; TRAINER: Chad Brown

3. Ottinho: Brown’s other starter broke his maiden by a head with a slightly slower speed figure. The big difference is that he won here at the Big A at this 1 1/8-mile distance. Cannot be overlooked here.

JOCKEY: Jose Lezcano; TRAINER: Chad Brown

4. Star Sweeper: Has yet to win beyond 6 ½ furlongs and was not competitive in two stakes tries. Seems overmatched.

JOCKEY: Angel Rodriguez; TRAINER: Louis Linder Jr.

5. Mailata: Has won his last three starts, topped by a 19-length romp in a Parx Racing seven-furlong stakes. Will get tested for class here but hails from a barn that is highly effective shipping into New York.

JOCKEY: Mychal Sanchez; TRAINER: Butch Reid

6. Talk to Me Jimmy: Has been training sharply since winning a New York-bred maiden race by 5 1/2 lengths on Nov. 9. Should be part of the early pace and seems capable of hanging around until the end.

JOCKEY: Ruben Silvera; TRAINER: Rudy Rodriguez

7. Fourth and One: New York-bred maiden winner has never been worse than third in four career starts. Placed in two stakes before securing his first win by 7 1/4 lengths at a mile. Should be part of a contested pace.

JOCKEY: Jaime Rodriguez; TRAINER: Jeremiah Englehart

THE PICK: Schoolyardsuperman

LIVE LONGSHOT: Mailata

SUPERFECTA: 2-5-3-1