Gotham Stakes

March 18, 2006 - Maybe those who think a trainer doesn't mean anything to a good horse will think again after seeing the results of Saturday's $200,000 Gotham Stakes-G3 and the $250,000 San Felipe Stakes -G2.

Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, who finished second in last year's Kentucky Derby with Closing Argument, won the 2006 Gotham with 36-1 shot Like Now, while $1.55-1 favorite Achilles of Troy finished a dull fifth after a trainer switch. To add insult to injury, Achilles of Troy was also vanned off after returning lame.

We're not saying the trainer switch did in Achilles of Troy, that would probably be unfair in this case, but anyone who thinks a good trainer doesn't make a difference to a horse has obviously never lived and breathed horses. Regardless, after firing trainer Jennifer Pederson, it appears that Paraneck Stable, managed by Ernie Paragallo, is now off the Derby trail with Achilles Of Troy.

Not only did Like Now wire the Gotham field at long odds, defeating $1.65-1 second-choice Keyed Entry, he also revealed a weakness in that rival.

Making his first start beyond six furlongs and trying two turns for the first time, Like Now opened up quickly from the gate under jockey Fernando Jara and had three lengths on the field while running easily through a quarter 23.25. He maintained a short but clear lead through fractions of 47.78 and 1:12.30 before opening a 1 1/2-length lead into the stretch. Keyed Entry, who had patiently stalked the winner to the stretch, moved outside to go after Like Now in the drive and was gaining after a mile in 1:36.68, but he never really looked like he was going to get there. He didn't, finishing a neck back at the wire. The final time for the mile-and-a-sixteenth over a fast track was 1:43.17.

It was a further half-length back to 4-1 Sweetnorthernsaint, who was close up throughout and who held well in the drive. Greeley's Legacy rallied up the rail at 17-1 to take fourth position, a half-length behind Sweetnorthernsaint.

The winner, trained by McLaughlin for owner-breeder John J. Dillon, paid a whopping $74.50 to win and increased his lifetime earnings to $213,932 from a record of 4-1-0 in seven starts. A former maiden claimer, Like Now is by Jules, a son of Forty Niner, out of the Pine Bluff mare Can't Bluff Me, who never ran further than six-furlongs. And while his winning performance was game enough, we're left wondering if Like Now really beat anything in the Gotham.

Second-place finisher Keyed Entry was coming into the race undefeated in three starts after an overrated wire-to-wire score over First Samurai in the Hutcheson Stakes-G2, and he did not look comfortable in his new role as a rallier - closing ground - but with his head up in the air. The 110 Beyer Speed Figure Keyed Entry earned winning the Hutcheson was obviously enhanced by the fact that he was the lone speed that day over a sloppy track. And while you have to give him credit for trying to win the Gotham - which he definitely did - he also probably ran closer to his real abilities.

Like Now will be pointed to the mile-and-an-eighth $750,000 Wood Memorial-G1 at Aqueduct on April 8, but the Gotham itself certainly did nothing to convince us that it would produce the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner.