El Kabeir goes for third straight in Withers

Ozone Park, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Jerome Stakes winner El Kabeir heads a field of seven 3-year-olds entered for Saturday’s $250,000 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct.

The 1 1/16-mile stakes is a prep for Aqueduct’s $1 million Wood Memorial on April 4 and is worth 10 points to the winner as part of the Kentucky Derby points system.

Trained by John Terranova for Zayat Stables, El Kabeir has drawn the far outside post in the seven-horse field and will again be ridden by C. C. Lopez. Lopez was aboard when the gray colt captured Aqueduct’s $200,000 Jerome Stakes last month.

“I love having horses here in New York. He’s thriving and he’s got a great foundation under him now,” Terranova said after the Jerome.

El Kabeir currently has 21 points, tied with International Star, for first- place in the system that decides the starting field of 20 for the Run for the Roses on May 2.

The 3-year-old has won half of his six career starts for $388,892. The colt broke his maiden by 10 3/4 lengths in his second start last Aug. 30 at Saratoga. He was fourth in the slop in the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park on Oct. 4 and second in Aqueduct’s Nashua Stakes on Nov. 2 in the mud.

El Kabeir went wire to wire to win the 1 1/16-mile Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs on Nov. 29.

Here is the field for the Withers from the rail out: Classy Class, Irad Ortiz Jr.; Far From Over, Manuel Franco; March, Jose Ortiz; Tencendur, Cornelio Velasquez; Unrivaled, Frankie Pennington; General Bellamy, Junior Alvarado and El Kabeir, C. C. Lopez.

Post time for the Withers is approximately 4:13 p.m. ET.

Categorized in: Horses