St. Elias Stable, William Lawrence, and Glassman Racing's Iron Honor improved to an unbeaten 2-for-2 when capturing the $300,000 Gotham Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack Feb. 28, a one-turn mile for sophomores.
Trained by five-time Eclipse Award winner Chad Brown, the Nyquist bay secured the maximum allotment of the 50-25-15-10-5 Kentucky Derby (G1) qualifying points on offer to the top-five finishers.
READ: Iron Honor Takes Gotham, Moves into Triple Crown Mix
"He came out of the race great. He ate up and looks good this morning," said Michele Dollase, assistant to Brown. "We're on to the next race. As of right now, he is good. He came out of the race really good."
Brown said post-race he will keep the colt at Belmont Park to prepare for a stretch-out in the 1 1/8-mile $750,000 Wood Memorial (G2) April 4, a 100-50-25-15-10 Kentucky Derby qualifier, at Aqueduct.
"He came out of the race great. I think he does want to go farther. He only just got here on Wednesday from Florida," Dollase said. "He really only trained one day here, but still went and did his thing Saturday, which was really impressive."
Brown equipped Iron Honor with blinkers for his maiden win at Aqueduct and said the colt was a little body sore following that race when he arrived at his Payson Park Training Center base.
"This horse missed a little training when he shipped down to Florida. If you look there was a gap of about a month for the works. He didn't ship in completely healthy and then he came back good," said Brown. "I appreciate the owners for being patient. My team did a great job."
Brown has multiple horses with Kentucky Derby points to their name already, including Paladin, who tops the overall standings with 60 points, as well Iron Honor, Ottinho (6 points), and Schoolyardsuperman (4 points).
"We have some very promising horses, and anyone would love to be in this position but there's so much racing to go and so much time in between with horses still growing and changing. We'll hope for the best and try to get as many there as we can," said Brown.
Paradise Farms Corp., David Staudacher, and Hooties Racing's talented Ohio-bred Crown the Buckeye landed a game second after a prolonged pace battle with Iron Honor in the Withers.
The Yaupon colt picked up 25 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, bringing his total to 28. Trainer Mike Maker said he was pleased with the hard-trying effort from Crown the Buckeye.
"No complaints," Maker said. "He's got natural speed; he used it and fought right to the wire. I couldn't ask for more. He galloped out well, he was just second best. He came back in good shape this morning—very pleased with him."
Crown the Buckeye is not Triple Crown nominated but his current points total would have him as high as sixth on the leaderboard for one of 20 spots in the Kentucky Derby starting gate on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs.
Maker said he would meet with the connections this week to discuss next steps for Crown the Buckeye.
"I think he's a one-turn horse but at this time of year, I guess we're going to find out," Maker said. "Everything is on the table. I have to get with all the connections and make a decision. We'll meet about it this week but the plan before then was to keep him at one turn."
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
