Trainer Brendan Walsh gained a starter earlier this week for the May 3 Kentucky Derby (G1) when Godolphin's East Avenue ran a hard-fought second in the April 8 Blue Grass Stakes (G1) at Keeneland, securing enough qualifying points to gain a Derby berth.
Just four days later, he would appear to now have a candidate in Gosger for the second leg of the Triple Crown, the May 17 Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico Race Course—or another major race for 3-year-olds this spring and summer.
On April 12 at Keeneland, the talented Gosger earned his first stakes victory by outrunning pace-setting long shot Bracket Buster by two lengths in the $400,000 Lexington Stakes (G3) at Keeneland. The victory in the Lexington, the final Kentucky Derby prep this spring, earned him 20 points toward the May 3 Derby at Churchill Downs—an insufficient tally to gain entry based on historical trends.
WATCH: Walsh Discusses Lexington Winner Gosger
Commenting on the Preakness, "It's a possibility," Walsh said, though he later added that "we're going to stay calm and pick our spots with him and see how we go."
The 1 3/16-mile Preakness, contested with a field often half the size of the Derby in five weeks, is also a sixteenth of a mile shorter than the Derby.
Gosger, who has trained at times with East Avenue, ran in the Lexington like a 3-year-old with a bright future, while still showing signs of inexperience. Stalking the pace in fourth for much of the race on the inside, as Bracket Buster set fractions in the Lexington of :23.73, :47.62, and 1:12.27, he was angled out to the three path leaving the second turn and finished strongest when still racing greenly. He collared Bracker Buster with about an eighth of a mile remaining and drew away late.
"He's a really nice horse," jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. said. "He ran a little green down the lane, looking around. I tried to stay straight and keep him focused. He was very impressive."
He was timed in 1:44.15 on a fast track, with a final sixteenth in a moderate :06.60. A second-out maiden graduate in his last start Feb. 15 when racing a mile at Gulfstream Park, Gosger returned $10.60 for a $2 win wager.
Vicki Oliver, trainer of comebacking runner-up Bracket Buster, said she was pleased with her 3-year-old's performance after a layoff and that the Preakness would be a consideration, along with other stakes.
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Praetor, who appeared to poke his head in front briefly between calls entering the stretch, faltered late in his two-turn debut but managed to last for third, another 3 1/2 lengths behind the runner-up. Hypnus ran fourth and Bullard was fifth.
Besides the winner picking up 20 qualifying points, those second through fifth earned points on a 10-6-4-2 basis—though with none of the competitors within reach of having the points necessary to make the Derby field, it was of little consequence.
Gosger is a gray and or roan son of Nyquist out of the Tapit mare Gloria S, making the colt a half brother to Harvey's Lil Goil, a daughter of American Pharoah who won the 2020 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes (G1T) at Keeneland.
Like Harvey's Lil Goil, Gosger is a homebred for Harvey A. Clarke Racing Stables, headed by Donna Clarke.
The 2016 Kentucky Derby winner, Nyquist is the sire of four graded stakes winners this year. He stands for $175,000 at Darley near Lexington.
