Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct : Well-Rested Capote to Make 1987 Debut

Wayne Lukas’ critics always have contended that one reason he’s never trained a Kentucky Derby winner is that he tires his colts out before they get to Louisville.

This year, he’s taking the opposite approach with Capote, last year’s 2-year-old champion.

Capote will be making his first start of 1987 just four weeks before the Derby in the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct today.

“With a lot of my Derby horses, their best race seems to come just before,” Lukas said. “I’ve always felt we were one race ahead.”

But is Capote one race behind?

His last start was the $1-million Breeders’ Cup juvenile at Santa Anita last Nov. 1. He won that one, his third in four starts as a 2-year-old, and locked up the Eclipse Award for his class.

But a virus set him back in his training, and while Bet Twice, Masterful Advocate, Demon’s Begone and a half-dozen other 3-year-olds began their buildup for the Derby, Capote began to look like a typical 2-year-old champion --no colt since Spectacular Bid has followed up a juvenile Eclipse with a Derby victory.

A total of 10 colts are entered in the $250,000-added Gotham, a one-mile prep for the April 18 Wood Memorial Invitational. It may be run on an off track--the forecast is for rain.

“Capote hasn’t run in the mud, but he doesn’t seem to be the kind of horse that needs to have his own track,” said Lukas, who will have Pat Day aboard his colt. “I expect him to win but I won’t be shattered if he doesn’t,”

Capote’s major rival figures to be his old rival, Gulch. The Leroy Jolley-trained colt was unbeaten in three starts last year before he journeyed West and lost twice to Capote--in the Norfolk Stakes and again in the Breeders’ Cup.

Gulch, who will be ridden by Jacinto Vasquez, has the advantage of having started twice this year. He was fourth in the Key West Stakes at Hialeah, then won the seven-furlong Bay Shore at Aqueduct two weeks ago.

“Capote is a good horse, and I can say that because I’ve only seen him win,” Jolley said. “But he’s been away a long time, and a mile is a difficult distance at which to come back. What happens at 2 doesn’t always happen at 3.”

Gulch and Capote are co-highweights at 123.

If either falters, it may open the way for an entry of Gone West and Conquilot, who are trained by Woody Stephens. Gone West will be ridden by Robbie Davis, Conquilot by Eddie Maple.

Another of last year’s 2-year-olds, Java Gold, will make his 1987 debut in the seventh race on the card, a six-furlong allowance event. As of now, he is being primed for post-Derby races, but that could change with an impressive performance.

The Gotham, as well as the Cherry Hill Mile at Garden State in New Jersey, will be televised live by ESPN at 2 p.m. PST.

The field for the Gotham, in post position order, with weights, jockeys, odds: Forest Fair, 118, Herb McCauley, 20-1; Marine Command, 118, Jamie Ryan, 15-1; Girning, 118, Mike Venezia, 20-1; Gulch, 123, Jacinto Vasquez, 3-1; Capote, 123, Pat Day, 2-1; Gone West, 114, Robbie Davis, 4-1; Conquilot, 114, Eddie Maple, 4-1; Shawklit Won, 114, Richard Migliore, 6-1; Battle Man, 114, no rider, 12-1, and Pleasant Variety, 114, no rider, 20-1.