Historians will note that a Gotham Stakes winner has not captured the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve since the immortal Secretariat in 1973. Yet trainer Chad Brown believes that streak could possibly be shattered by his 3-year-old Iron Honor, who was the winner of the 2026 Grade 3 $300,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct.

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Running for just the second time in his career, the son of 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist edged away late to take the Gotham by a length as the 4-5 favorite ($3.88 to win). The victory convinced Brown that the Grade 2 Wood Memorial Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Aqueduct on April 4 and later possibly the Kentucky Derby are definitely in play for the colt owned by St. Elias Stable, William Lawrence, and Glassman Racing.

"The Wood is absolutely on the radar. He's going to stay in New York and I would not rule out the Derby," Brown said. "He got a lot of experience today. He has a lot of foundation. He's been in our care since the summer and has two good races. The Wood will tell us a lot."

The Gotham was just the second career start for Iron Honor, who posted an impressive speed figure in his Dec. 13 debut in a six-furlong maiden special weight race at the Big A.

"I thought he ran great. He showed a lot of heart, and he'll be much better for the race," Brown said. "I think he can really move forward."

The Kentucky Derby in theory would be Iron Honor's fourth career start, but that does not faze Brown.

"He's bred for a distance, and it looked like he was interested in more distance galloping out," said Brown, who also trains top Triple Crown candidate Paladin for different connections.

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Iron Honor and jockey Manny Franco vied for the lead with Crown the Buckeye through fractions of :46.30 and 1:11.45 in what turned into a two-horse duel. Iron Honor eventually took charge in the final furlong and was timed in 1:37.94 on a track rated good.

"I feel the horse can go a mile and an eighth," Franco said. "There's still room to improve. Race by race, he's learning."

The Gotham awards 50-25-15-10-5 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top five finishers, and the 50 points to the winner is likely to put Iron Honor in the field of 20 for the May 2 first jewel in the Triple Crown.

Crown the Buckeye gained 25 points for his runner-up finish, giving him a total of 28 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard, but is not nominated to the Triple Crown. Right to Party was 6 1/2 lengths back in third but also is not nominated to the spring classics.