Borel to again ride favored El Kabeir in Jerome Stakes
Ozone Park, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Hall of Fame jockey Calvin Borel will be coming to Aqueduct Saturday to ride 2-1 morning line favorite El Kabeir in the $200,000 Jerome Stakes for 3-year-olds going a mile and 70 yards.
Borel, a three-time winner of the Kentucky Derby, was aboard the gray colt to win the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs on Nov. 29. Horse and rider will leave from the outside post in the nine-horse field on Saturday.
“We’re very happy with the way he and Calvin connected in Kentucky,” said trainer John Terranova. “The horse came out of the race great, and he’s heading into the Jerome ideally. He’s gotten much stronger moving from the Champagne to the Nashua to now, and he’s a lot more focused as well. We’ve gotten over the two-turn question; now, we have to see how he progresses, how he stretches out his speed, and his ability to rate.”
El Kabeir, owned by Zayat Stables, went wire to wire to win the 1 1/16-mile Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes. That win came after the colt was second in Aqueduct’s Nashua Stakes on Nov. 2 in the mud.
El Kabeir broke his maiden by 10 3/4 lengths in his second start on Aug. 30 at Saratoga. He has two wins with a second and a third in five races for $268,892.
The 7-2 second choice is Ostrolenka who will be ridden by Jose Ortiz from post 4. The colt is trained by Todd Pletcher for breeder Eric Fein and Christopher McKenna.
Ostrolenka is coming off a last-place finish at Aqueduct in the Remsen at odds of 9-2. He broke his maiden second time out and captured the Sleepy Hollow Stakes at Belmont Park on Oct. 18.
“The first thing we’re looking for is for him to rebound from the disappointing performance in the Remsen,” said Pletcher, who will also saddle Royal Burgh, 8-1, in the Jerome. “My feeling is that he was compromised by a bad post (No. 11) and the fact there was a lot of residual moisture in the track, even though it was labeled fast. Johnny (Velazquez) felt he didn’t like the track surface at all, just as he didn’t like the sloppy track in his first start, so we’re hoping for a fast track and a better performance.
“He’s a colt with some potential and as he continues to develop and improve, should he run well, we’ll come up with a game plan for him.”
Ostrolenka has earned $187,292, second most in the field.
Ackeret, trained by Rudy Rodriguez, is the 4-1 third pick and has the services of jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. for Saturday and will break from post 7. Owner David Wilkenfeld won the 2013 Jerome with Vyjack.
Ackeret won his first time starting at Belmont Park in October but was fifth on Nov. 15 at Laurel Park in the James F. Lewis Stakes. He came back on Dec. 16 to take an allowance race at Parx Racing. The colt has banked $60,600.
Here is the field for the Jerome in post position order: Mini Cosmo, Angel Arroyo, 8-1; Royal Burgh, Manuel Franco, 8-1; Tencendur, Jeremy Rose, 30-1; Ostrolenka, Jose Ortiz, 7-2; Now We Are Free, Fernando Jara, 20-1; General Bellamy, Junior Alvarado, 12-1; Ackeret, Irad Ortiz Jr., 4-1; Nasa, Kendrick Carmouche, 8-1 and El Kabeir, Calvin Borel, 2-1.
The Jerome has an approximate post time Saturday of 3:48 p.m. ET.
Categorized in: Horses