Imagine Racing’s Bricklin impressed last out when winning by 3 1/4 lengths in a one-mile optional claimer on January 3 at Oaklawn Park. Trainer Rodolphe Brisset said the Nyquist dark bay is under consideration for multiple Kentucky Derb y trail options, including staying home for the Grade 3 Southwest on January 31 at Oaklawn or possibly the Listed $200,000 Withers the same day at Aqueduct Racetrack.

“Pretty much everything is in play: the Southwest, the Withers,” said Brisset. “Or we could give him a little more time, wait until mid-February, or wait all the way until the Rebel [on March 1 at Oaklawn]. I’m not committing to anything. Nothing is out of the picture, but we aren’t in a rush, we’ve got to play it week by week.”

Both the 1 1/16-mile Southwest and nine-furlong Withers offer 20-10-6-4-2 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top-five finishers.

Bricklin earned a career-best 86 Beyer Speed Figure for his recent win and improved to 2-for-4 overall, missing the board in his August debut at Ellis Park and in the Grade 3 Street Sense in October two starts back at Churchill Downs. Brisset said Bricklin returned to the tab on Saturday at Oaklawn with Clocker Special.

Clocker Special another 3yo to Watch on Kentucky Derby Trail

“He worked yesterday with another 3-year-old, who’s had a layoff and we will try to see if he’s good enough to be on the Derby Trail, too, by the name of Clocker Special,” Brisset said. “They worked together, it was a nice maintenance five-eighths from the half, nothing fancy, but a good work.”

Clocker Special, owned by Storyteller Racing, Schroeck Racing, Open Gate Horse Ventures, Brian Cahoe, Scott Catlett, Dave Russel and Matthew Ransdell, graduated second-out when making his most recent start in July at Ellis Park.

“Clocker Special, we had our eye on him at two, he broke his maiden pretty impressively, was pointing for the Futurity at Keeneland. He got just a little setback, never got hurt, but we didn’t like the way he was training, so we gave him some time to focus on winter racing and the Derby Trail,” Brisset said. “He’s been working at Oaklawn and we might have an allowance the day after the Southwest on February 1st. That would be our starting point.”

Brisset said he nominated the trio of N Z Holly, Joke Maker and Hollybygolly to the $135,000 Ruthless, a seven-furlong sprint for sophomore fillies, on Withers Day at Aqueduct.

“A week-by-week play with the fillies. Two of them [N Z Holly, Joke Maker] are at Oaklawn, up to New York is not an easy ship, but we do have some at Keeneland so we can always divide the trip to two steps,” Brisset said. “The last one I nominated, Hollybygolly, is at Turfway and just broke her maiden pretty impressively, but at a lower level, so we’ll play it by ear.”

source: NYRA