El Areeb repeats with a win in the Withers
El Areeb continued his domination of the New York road to the 2017 Kentucky Derby when he rallied from off the pace to win the $250,000 Withers (G3) at Aqueduct. The victory was El Areeb’s fourth in a row since he broke his maiden at his home base of Laurel Park.
Trainer Cathal Lynch brought El Areeb back to New York a month after his 11¼ length victory in the Jerome over a very muddy inner track at Aqueduct. The betting public felt that the gray son of Exchange Rate was the one to beat and bet him down to odds of .55-1. El Areeb ran the way an odds-on favorite should as he easily topped the field of ten by a final margin of 4¼ lengths.
The New York-bred Jaime’s Angel was rushed out of post-position three to take the early lead. Longshot True Timber stumbled at the start, regained his footing, and was hustled forward by Kendrick Carmouche. Carmouche squeezed through a very tight opening at the rail and gained the lead and control of the early pace. True Timber set the early fractions of 24.29 and 49.31.
Trevor McCarthy, the rider of El Areeb in all six of his races, was content to sit in third position in the two-path about two lengths behind the leader. After three-quarters went in 1:14.06, McCarthy asked El Areeb to pick up the pace a bit and he responded kindly. As the duo straightened out for home, they were even with True Timber. The race was all but over at this point and the only question that remained was that of the second place finish.
"I stalked him and let him get relaxed. I kind of stayed out of his way today,” explained McCarthy. “I got him to relax, settle and sit three-wide, and then I pushed the button on him and he accelerated. He didn't prefer the surface in the Jerome. Today, I felt a different horse underneath me. He had a bigger stride and was really running at the end. He seemed to keep going and galloped out super for me. He seems like a horse who can do whatever he wants."
Even after his bad break out of the gate, 29-1 shot True Timber was very game down the stretch and was able to hold off J Boys Echo, who was the only horse that was making up ground down the stretch. True Timber picked up four Kentucky Derby points for the connections of Calumet Farm and trainer Kiaran McLaughlin to go with the two points he earned in the Jerome. J Boys Echo, who was shipped up to the New York from Florida by trainer Dale Romans, had last run in the Delta Jackpot where he finished fourth and he now has three Derby points. Bonus Points got the final qualifying point for his fourth place.
With the victory, El Areeb now has a total of 20 Derby points. The career record for the M M G Stables runner now stands at 6: 4-1-0 with earnings of $334,200. El Areeb returned $3.10, 2.50, and 2.10 across the board. The $2 exacta with True Timber paid $37 and that longshot paid $13.60 and $8.00 to place and show. The $2 trifecta down to J Boys Echo paid $163.50.
Lynch looked ahead to what might be next for El Areeb, "To be fair to the horse, he's done everything asked of him and then some. If he keeps doing this, I'll talk to the owners, and we'll sit down and talk about where we'll go next, probably the Wood [Memorial, April 8]. I don't know if we'd go to the Gotham [March 4] or not, I'm not sure yet, but that'll be the discussion we'll have. We'll see how he comes back the next few days and make a decision. He's run every time. He made his [sixth] start today, he's got a good enough foundation there. He's got another 10 points from today [towards the Kentucky Derby]. If we're going to take a shot at these other three things [the Triple Crown], it'd probably be nice to have a little break before we do. I won't even say it, I'm a little superstitious."