Talk to Me Jimmy collects 20 points toward a potential run in the Kentucky Derby with dominating score in the Withers Stakes at Aqueduct. Coglianese Photo.
Talk to Me Jimmy added his name to the list of potential Kentucky Derby runners with a powerful front-running victory in Friday’s $200,000 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct.
Co-owned by SEI Thoroughbreds’ and trainer Rudy Rodriguez, the 3-year-old son of Modernist made the successful jump from the maiden ranks to stakes company and stretched out to two turns for the first time in the 9-furlong Withers. He also picked up 20 points toward a spot in the starting gate for the Kentucky Derby, giving his connections plenty of reason to dream about the “Run for the Roses” in May at Churchill Downs.
“We’re new to this, so we’ll let it come to us and do our best,” said Dustin Pusatere of SEI Thoroughbreds. “There’s a lot of heavy-hitters, and we’re one of many trying [to get to the Derby]. It’s not bad beating Gun Runner’s half-brother [Ottinho].”
A $24,000 RNA as a weanling at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga fall mixed sale, Talk to Me Jimmy was purchased by Rodriguez for $31,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September yearling sale. He made his debut in late September at Aqueduct, finishing second in an off-the-turf 1-mile state-bred maiden before a victory in a 1-mile state-bred maiden November 9 at the Big A.
Rodriguez said the colt “had a little setback in the beginning” but praised his partners for their patience leading up to one of New York’s main preps for the Grade 2 Wood Memorial and Kentucky Derby.
“We always thought he wants to go long,” Rodriguez said. “He’s a nice, solid little horse. We picked up this horse at Keeneland, him and Exhibition Only [winner of Thursday’s third race at Aqueduct] and a couple other ones, and we’ve been very lucky. … They [the owners] have been very, very patient. I’m just happy they stayed with us through this part because everything was in the air. Thank God everything worked out for a reason.”
Ruben Silvera put Talk to Me Jimmy, the 12-1 sixth choice in the field of seven, on the lead shortly after brushing with Mailata at the start.
Talk to Me Jimmy clicked off splits of :23.96 and :48.18 early under mild pressure from 3-2 favorite Schoolyardsuperman with Mailata, Ottinho and fellow New York-bred Fourth and One up close.
Silvera, who said he tried holding Talk to Me Jimmy as much as possible early, led the colt open up by 3 lengths through 6 furlongs in 1:12.47 and they continued to run from rivals around the far turn to the stretch. Talk to Me Jimmy led by 6 1/2 lengths in midstretch and widened from there, winning by 11 lengths in 1:51.68 over the fast track.
“It was his first time at the distance,” Silvera said. “I saw a lot of speed in the race. Let me break and see what happens in the beginning because I don’t want to rush too much. My horse breaks good. I tried holding, I tried waiting until the stretch, but I feel like I have a lot of horse at the three-eighths, so I wait a little, but in the stretch [we went].”
Talk to Me Jimmy also picked up $110,000 for the win to pad his bankroll to $163,600. Grittiness rallied to finish second, a half-length ahead of Ottinho with Schoolyardsuperman fourth. Star Sweeper, Fourth and One and Mailata completed the field.
Rodriguez, who said Talk to Me Jimmy grabbed a right front quarter in the race, would try to target the $750,000 Wood Memorial April 4. That race offers 100 points to the winner and basically an automatic bid into the Derby.
“Probably, we’ll point to that,” Rodriguez said. “This was a big test for him and we’ll just skip the other one [the Grade 3 Gotham, February 28 at Aqueduct] and point for the Wood.”
Bred by Majestic View Farms International, Talk to Me Jimmy is the fifth foal out of the 10-time winning Trippi mare Prairie Trip. She’s also the dam of four other New York-bred winners – Trip Ups (by Big Brown), Prairie Tales (Forty Tales), God Still Loves Me (Bellamy Road) and Senor Pickles (Redesdale).
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