Ozone Park, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Stakes winning colt El Kabeir will begin
his 3-year-old season Saturday in the $200,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct.
Trained by John Terranova, El Kabeir will take on eight rivals in the mile,
70 yard stakes with Hall of Fame jockey Calvin Borel riding for the second
straight start. The pair will leave from the far outside post.
El Kabeir, owned by Zayat Stables, is coming off a wire to wire victory in the
1 1/16-mile Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs on Nov. 29. That
win came after the colt was second in Aqueduct’s Nashua Stakes on Nov. 2 in
the mud.
“A mile-and-an-eighth to a mile-and-a-sixteenth here. We just thought we’d
ship to see how he shipped, first time going on the road,” Terranova said
after the Churchill victory. “He’s a real talented colt. He’s just a little
bit trying to find his balance.”
El Kabeir broke his maiden by 10 3/4 lengths in his second start on Aug. 30 at
Saratoga.
“He ran a freaky race that day and a freaky number. When we ran in the
Champagne (fourth on Oct. 4) it was just a mess the track that day. We broke
from the rail and it was awful at Belmont. The track, he just couldn’t take
it,” the trainer noted.
El Kabeir has two wins with a second and a third in five races for $268,892.
Pennsylvania-bred Nasa will start from El Kabeir’s immediate inside with
Kendrick Carmouche again riding the colt. Nasa is a son of 2004 Kentucky Derby
and Preakness champ Smarty Jones.
Nasa has the same connections as his sire, Someday Farm and trainer John
Servis. The colt won the $100,000 Pennsylvania Nursery at Parx Racing four
weeks ago, just as his father did, and has banked $99,050 in his four starts.
Here is the field for the Jerome from the rail out: Mini Cosmo, Angel Arroyo;
Royal Burgh, Manuel Franco; Tencendur, Jeremy Rose; Ostrolenka, Jose Ortiz;
Now We Are Free, Fernando Jara; General Bellamy, Junior Alvarado; Ackeret,
Irad Ortiz Jr.; Nasa, Kendrick Carmouche and El Kabeir, Calvin Borel.
The Jerome has an approximate post time Saturday of 3:48 p.m. ET.
