His 3-year-olds may not be eligible to run in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve, but nevertheless trainer Bob Baffert surely has an abundance of horses with the potential to be Triple Crown contenders in any other year.
Considering how much uncertainty is already woven into a Jan. 1 stakes for 3-year-olds, a wet day at Aqueduct only complicated matters in the $150,000 Jerome Stakes.
Aside from having to navigate a one-turn mile in search of qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve, the eight newly turned 3-year-olds had to cope with a sloppy sealed racetrack.
The past two years, the Sham Stakes at Santa Anita Park has been a key prep on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, producing the last two winners of the first leg of the Triple Crown.
The New York stretch of the Road to the Kentucky Derby kicks off on New Year’s Day at Aqueduct with the Jerome Stakes offering eight newly turned 3-year-olds the opportunity to pick up a few qualifying points, which could come in handy should those runners still have Triple Crown aspirations in the spring.
