Not That Brady back to New York-bred company; 'We'll take our time'

New York-bred Not That Brady, who won Aqueduct's Damon Runyon and finished second in the Grade 3 Withers, has enjoyed a freshening following his fifth-place finish in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial.

The Big Brown chestnut, co-owned by Michael Imperio, Lianna Stables and Rudy Rodriguez, is out of the popular New York-based mare Lisa's Booby Trap, who won 10 of 18 career starts, including nine wins at Finger Lakes.

Not That Brady, currently in training at Saratoga, where he breezed four furlongs in 51.69 seconds on May 8, was mentioned as an early Belmont Stakes possibility. Connections are now considering the $150,000 New York Derby, a 1 1/16-mile event for New York-bred 3-year-olds, for his next start.

"I gave him almost a month off just walking him after the Wood," said trainer Rudy Rodriguez. "Right now, he's had his second breeze back and we're trying to get him ready for the summer. We have a race at Finger Lakes we'd like to run him in and then run him at Saratoga. If I can get him a race before at Belmont that would be great. If not, we'll go straight to Finger Lakes."

The New York Derby is the second leg of the Big Apple Triple for New York-breds, which kicks off with the $125,000 Mike Lee on May 25 at Belmont and concludes on August 23 at Saratoga with the $250,000 Albany.

Not That Brady has posted two wins and two seconds from eight starts while banking $188,900 in purse money. Bred in New York by KatieRich Farms, Not That Brady has competed twice in off-the-turf events, including his 11 1/4-length maiden win at Aqueduct. Rodriguez said he would also consider giving the gelding another attempt at racing on the green.

"He looks like a nice horse, so we have a lot of options with him, including on the turf," Rodriguez said. "We'll take our time with him and hope to have a very good summer."