2020 Jimmy Winkfield Stakes Preview, Entries & Odds

Two-time stakes-winner Newstome will make his New York debut as part of a seven-horse field for sophomores going seven furlongs in Saturday's $100,000 Jimmy Winkfield Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The 36th edition of the Jimmy Winkfield, named for the two-time Kentucky Derby winning rider in 1901-02 who was the last black jockey to win the "Run for the Roses," will see Newstome make his second straight start at seven-eighths of a mile following his third-place finish in the Pennsylvania Nursery on December 7 at Parx.

Owned by Marie Trombetta and trained by her husband, Michael Trombetta, Newstome won his debut on August 3 in a 5 ½-furlong main track sprint at Parx. Following a seventh-place finish in his first turf race next out in the Rosie's on August 31 at Colonial Downs, the Pennsylvania-bred son of Goldencents thrived on Presque Isle Downs' all-weather track with a three-length score in the Mark McDermott on October 16.

Newstome followed with his second consecutive stakes win, edging Informative by a nose on November 16 at Laurel at six furlongs, before stretching out to seven furlongs in the finale of his juvenile campaign, finishing on the board for the fourth time in his five career starts in the Pennsylvania Nursey over a fast track.

"We've been delighted with him and he's certainly exceeded our expectations," Trombetta said. "His preference is probably going three-quarters, where he's 2-for-2, but those races are hard to come by, so we'll see how everything shapes out."

Jockey Manny Franco will pick up the mount for the first time, drawing post 1.

Ralph Evan's Quixotic earned a field-best 80 Beyer Speed Figure for his maiden-breaking victory at second asking on January 18 at the Big A under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, wiring a seven-horse field for a 4 ¼-length score on a fast track.

The Jonathan Thomas trainee ran a competitive second - just a length behind Trash Talker - in his debut on December 7 in a six-furlong sprint on the same track. The Quality Road colt, purchased for $300,000 at the 2018 Keeneland September Sale, handled the slight stretch out in distance and will now contest seven furlongs for the first time.

Eric Cancel will be in the irons from post 6.

"We were pleased with his first two starts and Johnny seemed to be pretty pleased with him," Thomas said. "Subsequently, he came back well. It's a little quicker than typically we've run one back, especially heading into a stakes, but the timing is what it is. He seems to be doing well, so we'll see how it shapes up.

"The speed figure coming back gave us some confidence, and the manner in which he won, with some force in hand, [encouraged us]." Thomas added. "He seemed to gallop out nicely. You only learn about them by running them."

Live Oak Plantation's Old Chestnut, a turf stakes winner, will make his first start on dirt and first non-turf appearance since running fifth over Woodbine's synthetic surface on July 7 in his career debut.

After finishing out of the money in three consecutive stakes starts on grass, trainer Mark Casse said he wanted to see if the Speightstown would benefit from a change in surface. Old Chestnut has breezed six times on the Belmont Park dirt training track, including a four-furlong work in 48.77 seconds on Friday.

"He's trained well enough over the dirt and there aren't a whole lot of options out there right now on the grass," Casse said. "We wanted to go ahead and find out sooner rather than later about the dirt and see how he does. We need to find out where we are. If he's just turf, it's better to find out now."

Kendrick Carmouche will ride from post 4.

Secret Rules will make the jump to stakes company off back-to-back wins, including an 8 ¾-length route in his sophomore bow on January 10 at Aqueduct. Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, the son of Secret Circle has not finished off the board in four starts [2-1-1].

Junior Alvarado, aboard for all of those starts, will have the return call from post 2.

Rounding out the field is Polar Bear Pete, fifth in the Jerome on New Year's Day before running second against optional claimers on January 10, for trainer Edward Barker [post 7, Dylan Davis]; Johnny Ritt, fifth in the Pennsylvania Nursery before besting optional claimers on a sloppy and sealed track on December 30 at Parx, trained by Robert Reid [post 5, Christopher DeCarlo]; and Montauk Traffic, making his first stakes appearance after a maiden-breaking win at second asking on December 28, for conditioner Linda Rice [post 3, Jose Lezcano].

Saturday's nine-race card will feature the Jimmy Winkfield in Race 8 with a post time of 4:25 p.m. Eastern. First post is 1:00 p.m.

All-Stakes Cross Country Pick 5 featuring the Jimmy Winkfield Stakes

The New York Racing Association will host an all-stakes Cross Country Pick 5 on Saturday, February 8 with racing action from Aqueduct Racetrack, Oaklawn Park and Tampa Bay Downs.

The multi-race wager, hosted by NYRA and featuring a 50-cent minimum, will begin with the $100,000 Jimmy Winkfield from Aqueduct for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs, carded as Race 8 at 4:25 Eastern.

Hall of Fame conditioner Bill Mott will send out Secret Rules in search of a third straight score following an impressive 8 3/4 length victory on January 10 at Aqueduct. Newstome, for trainer Mike Trombetta, will look to regroup off a third-place finish in the Pennsylvania Nursey on December 7 at Parx. Other challengers in the seven-horse Jimmy Winfield include Quixotic for trainer Jonathan Thomas, who enters Saturdays' test from a 4 1/4 length maiden victory in which he recorded a field-high 80 Beyer Speed Figure and Montauk Traffic for Aqueduct meet-leading trainer Linda Rice.

The action then switches to Tampa Bay Downs for the next three legs beginning with the $150,000 Suncoast, a Kentucky Oaks qualifying points race with a field of nine led by Gary Barber's multiple-stakes winner Two Sixty, who has banked $409,000 for trainer Mark Casse and the Grade 1-placed Comical, who captured the Grade 3 Schuylerville for trainer Steve Asmussen in a juvenile campaign that included a third in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante and a second in the Grade 1 Chandelier at Santa Anita.

The third leg of the sequence is the Grade 3, $175,000 Tampa Bay for 4-year-olds and upward going 1 1/16 miles on the turf. Multiple graded-stakes winner Caribou Club, trained by Tom Proctor, enters from a game second-place finish in the Artie Schiller at Aqueduct. Conditioner Mike Maker entered graded stakes winner Hembree for his seasonal debut in a talented field of nine that also includes March to the Arch for Casse and French-bred gelding Devamani for trainer Chad Brown.

Closing out the action from Tampa is the 40th running of the Sam F. Davis Stakes where the undefeated Independence Hall, who captured the Grade 3 Nashua and $150,000 Jerome at the Big A for trainer Michael Trombetta, will continue his road to the Kentucky Derby. A talented eight-horse field includes Shadwell Stables recent Grade 2 Remsen runner-up Ajaaweed and the undefeated Premier Star for trainer Jorge Navarro.

The last leg of the sequence is the King Cotton from Oaklawn Park, a six-furlong sprint for 4-year-olds and upward carded as Race 8. Multiple graded-stakes winner Whitmore for conditioner Ron Moquett and owners Robert LaPenta, Southern Springs Stables and Head of Plains Partners will make his 2020 debut in the field of eight that includes multiple graded-stakes placed runners Nun the Less for trainer Cipriano Contreras and Wilbo for Chris Hartman.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents.