Looking Ahead: Sand Devil and My Mitole Highlight Gotham Stakes

Feb 28, 2025 Sara Dacus/TwinSpires.com

The Road to the Kentucky Derby returns to Aqueduct Saturday for the Gotham S. (G3), awarding 50 qualifying points to the winner.

Undefeated local hero Sand Devil is the 9-5 morning line favorite. He made a statement in his career debut, cruising to a four-length win in a six-furlong race on Dec. 8. In his second start, he stretched out to a mile and crossed the wire 12 1/2 lengths ahead of the field, earning a second straight Brisnet Speed figure of 95. Most recently, he scored a victory in the Damon Runyan S. The chestnut colt is trained by Linda Rice, who has earned multiple Aqueduct training titles.

Sand Devil’s sire, Violence, was an early favorite for the 2013 Kentucky Derby. In his final start, he finished second by a half-length to eventual Derby winner Orb in the Fountain of Youth S. (G2). However, he sustained a fracture to his leg and was retired. Violence has become a Top 15 leading active sire.

.@JohnMucciolo has a tipsheet for Saturday's Fountain of Youth! 📝 https://t.co/NGMhq9utEQ

— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) February 28, 2025

Fellow New York-bred Sacrosanct also brings an unbeaten record to the Gotham. The Brad Cox-trainee enters with a 4-for-4 record with three local stakes wins.

My Mitole is a 15-1 shot with longshot promise. He comes into the race off of two one-mile wins at Aqueduct, the most recent a 5 1/4 length score on Feb. 14. Trainer Carlos Martin recognizes that the chestnut colt is returning to competition quickly, but he believes his horse is in good form. My Mitole is a son of 2019 champion male sprinter Mitole.

'He’s a horse that the distance doesn’t seem like [a problem],” Martin said. “For a Mitole, he has more [broodmare sire] Seeking the Gold; he seems like he’ll go on and run a distance of ground.”

Martin is a third-generation trainer. His grandfather, Frank 'Pancho' Martin, who came to the U.S. from Cuba, was inducted into racing's Hall of Fame in 1981. He conditioned Sham, runner-up to Secretariat in the 1973 Kentucky Derby and Preakness.

Carlos took out his training license at 19. Two years later, a bay mare named Buy the Firm, with Julie Krone in the irons, made him the youngest trainer at the time in North America to win a Grade 1 race. Twenty-eight years later, he earned the other Grade 1 win on his resume, with Come Dancing in the 2019 Ballerina S. at Saratoga.

The Gotham is one of four stakes on the 10-race program. It also features the Tom Fool S. (G3) and the Busher S., a Kentucky Oaks qualifier.