Photo:

Jason Moran / Eclipse Sportswire

Saturday’s $250,000 Withers is the fourth stop on the New York road to Kentucky Derby 2025, offering 20-10-6-4-2 qualifying points to eligible finishers. A field of seven was drawn to face the challenge of the 1 1/8-mile distance at Aqueduct.

Recent winners of the Withers include the $1.3 million earner and 2022 Preakness victor Early Voting. In 2020 Max Player went on to run fifth in the Kentucky Derby, win the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) in 2021 and earn $1.5 milllion. Tax became a millionaire with a victory in the Jim Dandy (G2) in 2019 and a fourth in the Belmont Stakes. Bernardini made the Withers his first stakes win and went on to victory in three Grade 1 races with $3 million earned.

Here is a full-field analysis for the Withers with morning-line odds from the Horse Racing Nation staff. The Withers is scheduled as race 7 of 9, with post time set for 3:46 p.m. EST.

1. Global Steve, 4-1. Bucchero – Robert Reid Jr. / Mychel Sanchez – 2: 2-0-0 – $73,800. Global Steve ships up from Parx Racing with an undefeated record. He broke his maiden at the Pennsylvania track in November when he rallied from a stalking position to beat a field of 12 by more than six lengths as the 2-1 favorite. A month later he became a stakes winner when he won the Future Stars with another closing trip and was the favorite this time at 9-5. Reid has plenty of success in stakes shipping to Aqueduct. He won this race with Uncle Heavy last year and in 2010 with Afleet Again. Win contender.

2. Surfside Moon, 20-1. Malibu Moon – James Lawrence II / Sahin Civaci – 5: 1-0-1 – $43,900. Surfside Moon broke his maiden in his third try last summer when he moved to the turf for the first time at Delaware Park as the favorite. The Pennsylvania-bred then was fifth in the Laurel Futurity, which was meant for the turf but was run on a good main track. Surfside Moon was last seen in October in the Awad stakes on the grass. With turf racing not available in the mid-Atlantic, he moves back to the dirt. Toss.

3. Corvus, 30-1. Vino Rosso – Jose M. Jimenez / Romero Maragh – 6: 1-1-1 – $82,070. Corvus broke his maiden in his fourth try in October at Aqueduct going a mile against New York-breds. In December he tried an open-company allowance and finished fourth behind the winner of last month’s Jerome and Uncle Jimm who is 4-1 in the Withers. Toss.

4. Uncle Jim, 4-1. City of Light – Brad Cox / Jose Lezcano – 2: 1-0-1 – $68,390. Uncle Jim will try the Kentucky Derby trail for the first time for Brad Cox. He was a debut winner when he overcame traffic while making a late move at Keeneland in October as the favorite going the difficult distance of seven furlongs. He made his second start at Aqueduct in the aforementioned allowance race and finished third. Cox won the Withers in 2023 with Hit Show. Win contender.

5. Mo Quality, 7-2. Mo Town – Chris Davis / Kendrick Carmouche – 3: 1-2-0 – $136,250. Mo Quality was an impressive maiden winner in his second start, which was at Churchill Downs. He then travelled to Oaklawn, where he finished second in the Smarty Jones and earned 4 Derby points. In that race he finished behind Coal Battle, who is a two-time winner on the Derby trail. Win contender.

6. Captain Cook, 9-5. Practical Joke – Rick Dutrow Jr. / Manny Franco – 2: 1-0-0 – $50,756. Captain Cook was fourth in his first start after a trouble-filled start against a field of 11 at 9-2. He then was moved to the barn of Rick Dutrow and came back at the end of December to beat a maiden field at Aqueduct by more than nine lengths on a sloppy track going seven furlongs. On that day he had a clean break and pressed the pace before drawing off. Win contender.

7. Omaha Omaha, 9-2. Audible – Michael Gorham / Raul Mena – 5: 2-1-1 – $97,300. Omaha Omaha began his career at Delaware Park in the late summer breaking his maiden in his third start. He then won an allowance at Laurel by seven lengths going two turns on a sloppy track. He moved onto the Derby trail in the Jerome, where he closed well from last to finish second behind a horse that got loose on the lead. Omaha Omaha picked up 4 Derby points in that Aqueduct race. Top choice.

Summary: The Withers has come up as a race without any confirmed front-runners. Uncle Jim and Captain Cook ran close to the lead in their most recent start, so expect them to be more forwardly placed than the others.

At Aqueduct in the winter the nine-furlong distance on a track that is often slow and tiring can be daunting. Omaha Omaha has proven himself to be a two-turn horse already. With his running style he will be making the last move down the stretch, and that could be the best move. Omaha Omaha is the top choice to get 20 Derby points in the Withers.