El Areeb fine after Gotham loss

M M G Stable's El Areeb is in good order following his third-place finish in the Grade 3 Gotham on Saturday, trainer Cathal Lynch reported Sunday morning.

The gray colt by Exchange Rate arrived back at his Laurel Park base around midnight, said Lynch, and all initial assessments have been positive.

"He came out of it great," said Lynch. "He ate up when we got back last night and by the time we got back to the barn this morning, he had his feed tub licked clean and was in there playing around. He's really no worse for wear. He came back good and scoped good."

After dueling with True Timber through the early stages of the Gotham, El Areeb, the 2-5 post-time favorite, suffered his first defeat since October, when he began a four-race win streak that included back-to-back Grade 3 victories this winter at the Big A in the Jerome and Withers.

"It was just one of those scenarios where the pace was so fast," Lynch said. "The winner ran a 102 Beyer and we ran our race, we just got caught up in a bit of a speed duel early, but I think he's no worse for it. Just give him a couple of days and he'll be good to go."

Lynch noted that the connections will take their time to determine what's next for El Areeb, who added 10 more Kentucky Derby qualifying points for a total of 30, ranking him sixth in the current standings.

"No idea," he said. "I spoke to the owners this morning and their concern was to make sure that the horse was OK. We'll go back to the track in the next couple of days and go from there."

 

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True Timber came out of the Grade 3 Gotham in good order, though trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said he's unsure of his path going forward after a fifth-place showing in which he weakened down the stretch. 

The Mineshaft colt, who was coming off a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Withers on February 4 and a third-place effort in the Grade 3 Jerome on January 2, dueled pacesetter and favorite El Areeb through early fractions of 23.58 seconds for a quarter-mile, 47.70 for a half and three-quarters in 1:13.59. 

McLaughlin said the plan for jockey Kendrick Carmouche changed when El Areeb surged to the lead in the quest to earn 50 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby. 

"We didn't think El Areeb would necessarily be there with us, but we showed pace last time and were in front of him and thought he would hang back, but he didn't," McLaughlin said.

True Timber, owned by Calumet Farm, is still looking for his first win since his maiden-breaking victory on December 10 at the Big A. After three consecutive graded stakes starts, McLaughlin said a step down in class is possible.

"He came out of the race good," McLaughlin said. "We might be looking at something different. We could be looking at an allowance race. We don't know yet. I'll talk to the owners."

 

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Making only his second start and finishing a respectable second in his stakes debut in yesterday's Grade 3 Gotham, Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence's Cloud Computing earned 20 qualifying points to the Kentucky Derby.

Speaking from his winter base in Florida, trainer Chad Brown was more than pleased with the effort.

"I thought he ran very well," said Brown. "Coming off a six-furlong maiden race and coming back to face winners in a graded stakes while stretching out to two turns, he handled it very well."