TODAY’S RACES : Gotham Might Be Ozan’s Big Chance

When Loblolly Stable’s Kentucky Derby hopefuls are talked about, Ozan is not usually part of the conversation.

But the colt, a Derby nominee, would become a conversation piece by winning the one-mile Gotham today at Aqueduct, then doing the same thing in the 1 1/8-mile Wood Memorial, also at Aqueduct, on April 17.

“He’s been a little slow to develop, like a lot of (Cox’s Ridge offspring), but he’s doing well lately and it doesn’t surprise me,� trainer Tom Bohannan said.

“He didn’t stick out last year from the other good ones, but he was a good mover and he looked like he’d be good if you got him in the right kind of race.

“Now he looks like a horse who is getting better. He got a pretty high speed figure in his last race.�

In his last start, Ozan, a winner of two of eight races, finished second, beaten by a neck, in the 1 1/16-mile Seattle Slew on March 7 at Aqueduct. His only victory this year was in an allowance race.

Ozan will carry 118 pounds, three less than high-weighed Strolling Along, the Belmont Futurity winner making his 3-year-old debut.

Bohannan also will send out the entry of Marked Tree and Dry Bean in the 1 1/16-mile Remington Park Derby today. The two top Loblolly 3-year-olds are Prairie Bayou, who probably will start next in the 1 1/8-mile Blue Grass on April 10 at Keeneland, and Dalhart, set for the 1 1/8-mile Arkansas Derby on April 17 at Oaklawn Park.

Also entered in the Remington Park Derby is El Atroz, who pulled off a one-length upset in the El Camino Real Derby on a muddy track at Santa Anita. Trained by Jose Silva, the horse will be ridden by Rafael Meza.

Jockey Pat Day and trainer Ron Goodridge are hoping for a victory by local favorite Brother Brown, who has won seven of eight starts. Pin Oak Stable’s Glaring has two victories, one on a muddy track, and two seconds in four career starts.