Arctic Arrogance highlights eight in Jerome

Jan 04, 2023 James Scully/TwinSpires.com

Remsen (G2) runner-up Arctic
Arrogance will face seven rivals in Saturday’s $150,000 Jerome S. at
Aqueduct. The one-mile event offers points on a 10-4-3-2-1 basis as a Kentucky
Derby qualifier, and the Jerome is the first of four races on the
Road to the Kentucky Derby series at Aqueduct in 2023.

A convincing winner of the one-mile Sleepy Hollow for New
York-breds two back, Arctic Arrogance figures to appreciate the cutback to a
one-turn mile following his half-length second in the 1 1/8-mile Remsen. The
Linda Rice-trained son of Frosted has set the pace in all four starts, and Jose
Lezcano retains the assignment on the gray colt.

Andiamo a Firenze
is another New York-bred contender. A nose second in the New York Breeders’
Futurity at Finger Lakes most recently, the Speightstown colt finished fourth
versus open competition in the Champagne (G1) two back, and Kendrick Carmouche
will be up on the restricted stakes winner for Kelly Breen.

Convincing debut maiden winner Neural Network will try stakes foes for Chad Brown. By 2015
Preakness winner Cloud Computing, the dark bay colt rolled to a five-length win
from just off the pace when making his lone outing versus New York-bred rivals
on Nov. 13. Neural Network will stretch to a mile against open competition with
Manny Franco aboard.

Lugan Knight, a
half-length maiden scorer in his second career outing at Keeneland two back,
also merits respect in his initial stakes attempt. The three-year-old colt
exits a rallying third-place effort in a deep allowance at Churchill Downs on
Nov. 26, finishing 1 1/2 lengths back of unbeaten Victory Formation, who exits
a convincing win in Sunday’s Smarty Jones S. at Oaklawn Park. Dylan Davis picks
up the mount on Lugan Knight for Michael McCarthy.

New York-bred stakes upsetter General Banker, last-out maiden claiming winners Circling the Drain and Narcisco Dali, and three-time winner Valenzan Day complete the field.