Kentucky Derby prep: Pacesetter Cyclone State wins Jerome
New York
Cyclone State continued his winning ways in the $150,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct on Saturday.
The Chad Summers trainee found the winner’s circle for the third time in a row, moving from a maiden special weight in November to an allowance in December and then onto the Kentucky Derby 2025 trail in the Jerome. The son of McKinzie earned 10 Derby qualifying points for the 3 1/2-length victory.
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“He’s just a special horse. He’s a horse we’ve always been high on,” Summers said. “Obviously this is just a stepping stone, but it’s the right steppingstone, and he did it the right way with what he was supposed to do against this field.”
Iowa-bred Cyclone State broke alertly from the gate, putting him in second to the outside of Enduring Spirit before he got his head in front through the first quarter-mile in 23.43 seconds.
The Aqueduct main track was deep and tiring all day long, making it hard for frontrunners to keep the lead while producing slow times. Jockey Luis Rivera Jr. pushed his horse to open a 1 1/2-length advantage after a 47.25-second half-mile.
“My plan was to go to the lead no matter what,” Rivera said. “Then when I saw another horse go, I said let me just sit off of him. The plan was to go to the lead anyways.”
Enduring Spirit, who had not raced since August and had a change in trainers, could not keep up. Cyclone Spirit increased his lead to 5 1/2 lengths after three-quarters of a mile that went in 1:13.20.
At the stretch call Cyclone Spirit was up by eight lengths, and he coasted home to finish the one-turn mile in 1:40.82.
“The fractions were not crazy fast,” Summers said. “Obviously tough to tell on this kind of track, but I thought Luis did the right thing holding his position at that point, and (Enduring Spirit) backed up, and it was just a matter of holding off the late runs of Ican and Omaha Omaha, and he was able to do that.”
As the third betting choice, Cyclone Spirit returned $8.10, 4.10, and 3.10 for a $2 win-place-show wager as his record improved to 7: 4-1-0.
Omaha Omaha finished second at 7-1, producing a $30.60 exacta and picking up five Derby qualifying points. Ican was a head behind in third and completed a $2 trifecta that paid $106.00 while getting three points. The 9-5 race favorite Studlydoright was fourth, which upped his Derby point total to four. Mansetti got the final point for his fifth-place finish.
The $250,000 Withers (G3) on Feb. 1, the next stop on the New York road to the Kentucky Derby, offers 20-10-6-4-2 qualifying points.
“We’ll regroup (at Palm Meadows in Florida) and gather ourselves and see where we’re at,” Summers said. “It's a good position to be in with 10 points, but obviously you need at least 40 to go where you want to go. We’ll evaluate the options and make the best plan. Obviously he likes Aqueduct, and we’re not going to be afraid to ship back up here.”
The $1.5 million Saudi Derby (G3) is on Feb. 22, and Summers had past success in the Middle East when he won the 2018 Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1) with sprinter Mind Your Biscuits.
“He’s nominated to Saudi,” Summers said about Cyclone State. “The noms come out (Wednesday), and I think this will get us an invitation. There’s a lot of things to take into consideration at this point.”.
A $70,000 purchase at the Keeneland yearling sale in September 2023, Cyclone State is owned by Al Gold, George Messina and Michael Lee. Gold also won last year’s Jerome with Drum Roll Please.