Nasa & The Jerome Stakes

Nasa, the offspring of Smarty Jones, created a buzz when he won the Pennsylvania Nursery Stakes last month. He produced the 2nd fastest Equibase Speed Figure (109) for a 2 year old male in that race. Today, Nasa competed in the 1 mile and 70 yard Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct. He finished 2nd, finishing 4 & 3/4th lengths behind El Kabeir–a strong Kentucky Derby contender who was 9th on my Exceptional Eleven 2015 Kentucky Derby Contenders list. You can see a video of Jerome Stake race by clicking here.

Overall, this was a solid effort and encouraging performance for Nasa against the best competition he has faced to date. Nasa’s trainer John Servis had this to say about the Pennsylvania colt: “Mentally he’s great. Mentally he’s like an old horse. He’s not a big horse. He’s been training great, really well, really well.”

Servis also went on to say that he is concerned that Nasa’s build could make him unable to handle the rigors of the Triple Crown. On comparing him to his sire Smarty Jones, “Smarty had a lot more scope to him than Nasa,” Servis said.

Overall, Nasa should be a horse to continue to keep and eye on and El Kabeir is cementing his position as the best East Coast Kentucky Derby Contender and early Wood Memorial favorite.

–Michael

Photo: Nasa after winning the Pennsylvania Nursery Stakes

Nasa’s Equibase Profile

Photo: El Kabeir winning the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes

El Kabeir’s Equibase Profile

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