The first couple of performances by a young horse can be deceiving.
One mediocre effort followed by a strong race can raise a question as to which one reflects the horse's true ability.
Maybe it's somewhere in the middle.
That test will come into play Feb. 1 in the $250,000 Withers Stakes when much more will be learned about St. Elias Stable's Captain Cook when he faces six rivals in the 1 1/8-mile Kentucky Derby (G1) prep for 3-year-olds at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Captain Cook, a son of Practical Joke , was bred by Marylou Whitney Stables and was bumped at the start and raced wide while finishing sixth at Churchill Downs for those connections in his Oct. 27 debut. Then the colt was offered through the Gainesway consignment as part of the dispersal of the estate of John Hendrickson at the Keeneland November Horses of Racing Age Sale. Sold for $410,000 to agent Steve Young on behalf of St. Elias, he was turned over to trainer Rick Dutrow in New York.
In his first start for Dutrow, the son of the Indian Charlie mare Pow Wow Wow breezed to a 9 1/4-length victory in a seven-furlong Dec. 28 maiden race at Aqueduct over a sloppy track.
The difference? A new trainer? He needed a start? The mud? A weak field?
More will be known after Saturday's race, which awards 20-10-6-4-2 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top five finishers.
"He ran big. We were very, very happy with his race," Dutrow said. "That is why we are pointing him to a big race now, because he was very impressive with what we saw from him. (Rider) Manny (Franco) was happy with the horse, excited, and liked the feel the horse gave him. He's an exciting horse who ran a big race and I can't wait to watch him run again. He is leading us to believe that he will be able to do it."
The field of seven includes two starters who have picked up five Kentucky Derby points through runner-up finishes in qualifying stakes.
Walmac Farm's Mo Quality comes into the Withers off a second by four lengths to Coal Battle in the Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park.
A son of Mo Town trained by Christopher Davis, he won his second of three career starts and has yet to finish worse than second.
"I thought we let the horse get away on the easy lead (in the Smarty Jones) and I think we should have pressed the pace and gone a little bit faster, to make the race a little more honest," Davis said. "I don't want to take anything away from the winner, who is proven and kicked away a little bit, but I think we kind of took our horse out of what he wants to do. He has a lot more natural speed than what he was allowed to show the other day. He wasn't tired after the race."
On Your Left Racing's Virginia-bred Omaha Omaha closed fast at the end to grab second in the Jerome Staks at the Big A, snapping a streak of two allowance optional claiming and maiden wins at a mile or more.
Trained by Michael Gorham, the homebred Audible colt has two wins and a second in his five career starts.
Aqueduct Racetrack, Saturday, February 1, 2025, Race 7Entries: Withers S.
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 Global Steve (FL) Mychel J. Sanchez 120 Robert E. Reid, Jr. - 2 Surfside Moon (PA) Sahin Civaci 118 James L. Lawrence II - 3 Corvus (NY) Romero Ramsay Maragh 118 Jose M. Jimenez - 4 Uncle Jim (KY) Jose Lezcano 118 Brad H. Cox - 5 Mo Quality (KY) Kendrick Carmouche 118 Christopher Davis - 6 Captain Cook (KY) Manuel Franco 118 Richard E. Dutrow, Jr. - 7 Omaha Omaha (VA) Raul E. Mena 118 Michael E. Gorham -
