News El Areeb to Return to Aqueduct for G3 Gotham February 22, 2017 News El Areeb to Return to Aqueduct for G3 Gotham February 22, 2017 By: Jared Welch twitterfacebooklinkedinemail Share: share on facebook share on twitter share on linkedin email this article LAUREL, MD – M M G Stables’ multiple Grade 3 winner El Areeb, based at Laurel Park with trainer Cal Lynch, will return to Aqueduct Racetrack for his next start in the $300,000 Gotham (G3) March 4. El Areeb has won four consecutive races dating back to last year including the Jerome (G3) and Withers (G3) this winter at Aqueduct to make himself one of the leading contenders on the Triple Crown trail. “I wanted to make sure and give him the time coming out of the last race just to make sure everything was OK,” Lynch said. “I spoke to the bosses this morning and told them I was comfortable that the horse was doing really well, so I didn’t see any reason not to go ahead and take a run at the Gotham.” A sophomore son of Exchange Rate, El Areeb had his first work back since the Feb. 4 Withers last Saturday at Laurel, going four furlongs in 47.70 seconds and galloping out five furlongs in 1:00 and six furlongs in 1:13. “The horse came out of his work really good. He’ll have one more work and then we’ll go to the Gotham,” Lynch said. “We’re still going race by race. We’ve got no plans beyond this one race.” El Areeb broke his maiden Oct. 15 and captured the James F. Lewis III Nov. 19 in his stakes debut, both at Laurel, to cap his juvenile season. He opened his 3-year-old campaign with an 11 ¼-length romp in the one-mile, 70-yard Jerome Jan. 2 and returned with a 4 ¼-length score in the 1 1/16-mile Withers Feb. 4. Like the Withers, the Gotham is run at 1 1/16 miles and serves as the final prep for Aqueduct’s 1 1/8-mile Wood Memorial (G2) April 8. “There’s a few less variables for us going there,” Lynch said. “Knowing that your horse likes the inner track is definitely an advantage. That can be a quirky track sometimes; some horses handle it and some don’t. We’ve been lucky this year; most of our guys seem to like it up there so we’ll go back again.” Lynch said El Areeb is expected to have his final pre-Gotham work Sunday at Laurel with regular rider Trevor McCarthy up. Maryland’s leading rider in 2014 and 2016, McCarthy’s 24 wins tops Laurel’s current winter-spring meet. Laurel Park
College Football Week 11 and NFL Week 10 Picks | Dudes Who Bet Sports 214 Aaron & Papa Dude give their College Football picks for… Read More
Official Breeders’ Cup 2024 Picks | Blinkers Off 692 The Racing Dudes preview and give picks for the 41st… Read More
Jon White Breeders’ Cup 2024 Interview and Picks | Blinkers Off 691 The Racing Dudes interview Jon White, former Santa Anita, Del… Read More
Breeders’ Cup Classic and Football Picks | Dudes Who Bet Sports 213 Aaron & Papa Dude give their College Football picks for… Read More
Breeders’ Cup 2024 Pre-Entries Analysis | Blinkers Off 690 The Racing Dudes dive into the 2024 Breeders’ Cup pre-entries… Read More
Breeders’ Cup 2024 Top 5 Performances Aaron gives his Top 5 Breeders’ Cup performances from the… Read More
Who is the 2024 3-Year-Old Male of the Year? Aaron gives his thoughts on who should be the 2024… Read More
College Football Week 11 and NFL Week 10 Picks | Dudes Who Bet Sports 214 Aaron & Papa Dude give their College Football picks for… Read More