TODAY’S RACES : Gotham Might Be Ozan’s Big Chance

When Loblolly Stable’s Kentucky Derby hopefuls are talked about, Ozan is not usually part of the conversation.

But the colt, a Derby nominee, would become a conversation piece by winning the one-mile Gotham today at Aqueduct, then doing the same thing in the 1 1/8-mile Wood Memorial, also at Aqueduct, on April 17.

“He’s been a little slow to develop, like a lot of (Cox’s Ridge offspring), but he’s doing well lately and it doesn’t surprise me,” trainer Tom Bohannan said.

“He didn’t stick out last year from the other good ones, but he was a good mover and he looked like he’d be good if you got him in the right kind of race.

“Now he looks like a horse who is getting better. He got a pretty high speed figure in his last race.”

In his last start, Ozan, a winner of two of eight races, finished second, beaten by a neck, in the 1 1/16-mile Seattle Slew on March 7 at Aqueduct. His only victory this year was in an allowance race.

Ozan will carry 118 pounds, three less than high-weighed Strolling Along, the Belmont Futurity winner making his 3-year-old debut.

Bohannan also will send out the entry of Marked Tree and Dry Bean in the 1 1/16-mile Remington Park Derby today. The two top Loblolly 3-year-olds are Prairie Bayou, who probably will start next in the 1 1/8-mile Blue Grass on April 10 at Keeneland, and Dalhart, set for the 1 1/8-mile Arkansas Derby on April 17 at Oaklawn Park.

Also entered in the Remington Park Derby is El Atroz, who pulled off a one-length upset in the El Camino Real Derby on a muddy track at Santa Anita. Trained by Jose Silva, the horse will be ridden by Rafael Meza.

Jockey Pat Day and trainer Ron Goodridge are hoping for a victory by local favorite Brother Brown, who has won seven of eight starts. Pin Oak Stable’s Glaring has two victories, one on a muddy track, and two seconds in four career starts.