Photo:

Joe Labozzetta / NYRA

The Grade 2, $250,000 Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct on Saturday drew a field of seven 2-year-olds who will go 1 1/8 miles in a race that provides 10-5-3-2-1 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top five finishers.

Three runners from last year’s Remsen made the run for the roses. Third-place Derby finisher Sierra Leone also won last month’s Breeders’ Cup Classic. Dornoch, who was 10th, went on to victory in the Belmont Stakes and the Haskell (G1). Domestic Product finished 13th and was a Grade 1 winner in the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial at Saratoga.

Here is a full-field analysis for the Remsen with the official track morning-line odds. The race is scheduled for 2:36 p.m. EST and is listed as race 7 of 10.

1. Tux, 3-1. Tapit – Bill Mott / Junior Alvarado – 1: 1-0-0 – $49,500. Tux is an LNJ Foxwoods homebred, and he is out of a mare who was a Grade 3 winner of three sprint stakes. He beat a field of five by 3 1/2 lengths in his only start at 7-2. That victory earned him a spot in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager pool 2, where he closed at 70-1. It is unusual for trainer Bill Mott to win with a first-time starter, so Tux must have displayed precocious talent. Mott won the Remsen in 2007 and 2010. Win contender.

2. Aviator Gui, 6-1. Uncle Mo – Chad Brown / Manny Franco – 3: 1-0-1 – $70,500. Aviator Gui broke his maiden in his second start in a race that was meant for the turf but was run at a mile on a good main track. Chad Brown then tried him on the grass in the Awad, where he ran fourth going around two turns. Manny Franco stays on board. Toss.

3. Poster, 5-1. Munnings – Eoin Harty / Flavien Prat – 2: 2-0-0 – $104,128. Poster is undefeated in two starts on the turf in Kentucky. The Godolphin homebred broke his maiden going a mile at Ellis Park at 5-1 in August and was a front-end winner. He came back at Keeneland during the fall meeting in an allowance and won by three lengths as the 9-5 favorite. He trained on the synthetic surface at Turfway Park. Poster will be ridden by Flavien Prat for the first time. Win contender.

4. Studlydoright, 9-2. Nyquist – John Robb / Xavier Perez – 6: 3-2-0 – $264,680. Studlydoright leads the field with three victories and in career earnings. He is the only stakes winner in the field with first-place finishes in the Tremont at Saratoga and the Nashua at Aqueduct going a mile last month. The Maryland-bred ships from Laurel Park to try the Kentucky Derby trail. Win contender.

5. Keewaydin, 6-5. Instagrand – Chad Brown / Dylan Davis – 2: 1-0-1 – $61,500. Keewaydin debuted in August at Saratoga and finished third in a blanket finish that was won by Tip Top Thomas, who went on to run second in the Champagne (G1). The Chad Brown runner returned to get his maiden victory with a front-end effort as the odds-on favorite, earning a speed figure that tops this field. Keewaydin was part of KDFW pool 2 and ended up at 107-1. Brown won the Remsen in 2014. Top choice.

6. Surfside Moon, 20-1. Malibu Moon – James Lawrence II / Kendrick Carmouche – 5: 1-0-1 – $43,900. Surfside Moon is a Pennsylvania-bred who broke his maiden in his third try, which was on the turf at Delaware Park in July. Since then, he was fifth in the Laurel Futurity and sixth in the Awad. Toss.

7. Gun Trader, 30-1. Tom’s d’Etat – Uriah St. Lewis / Francisco Martinez – 6: 1-0-2 – $50,000. Gun Trader was a bargain purchase in May for $8,000 and ran six times since his July debut. His maiden victory came last month going two turns at Parx Racing as the 3-2 favorite. Toss.

Summary: The Remsen field rasies questions to be answered. Will Poster and Surfside Moon handle the move from turf to dirt? Do Chad Brown and Bill Mott have the most talented maiden winners with Keewaydin and Tux? Does Studlydoright simply have an experience edge on the others?

The answers to those questions would help handicap these 2-year-olds. But the most important factor could just be identifying the horse who can handle the two turns and the nine-furlong distance. The seven-furlong win by Keewaydin makes him a possibility, and Studydoright’s win in the Nashua and his second going two turns in the Laurel Futurity make him a serious win contender.

Chad Brown and Keewaydin are the top choice, with Studlydoright in the exacta box.