Baffert duo face The Lumber Guy in Jerome

After landing a one-two punch in last week's Grade 1 Arkansas Derby with

Bodemeister and Secret Circle, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert will attempt to

do the same in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000

Jerome at

Aqueduct with California shippers Stirred Up and Brigand. The one-mile Jerome,

which will be run for the 142nd time, is the final graded stakes of the Aqueduct

spring meet as racing in New York shifts to Belmont Park next weekend.

A virtual impossibility to have any implication on the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby

two weeks from now, a starter or two for the Grade 1 Preakness might emerge from

the Jerome. Among the candidates is Stirred Up, who has already had a taste of

facing some of the leading classic contenders. A distant third to stablemate

Bodemeister in that one's maiden score in February at Santa Anita, the son of

Lemon Drop Kid rebounded to graduate by a neck going 1 1/16 miles over the same

track. Last time, Stirred Up finished eight lengths third to Daddy Nose Best in

the Grade 3 Sunland Derby over nine furlongs.

Baffert's other colt, Brigand, has yet to race beyond seven furlongs. A debut

winner at Hollywood Park last July, the son of Flatter was next second in the

Grade 3 Hollywood Juvenile Championship. Unplaced in his next two starts in

stakes company, the New York-bred was most recently second in a first-level

allowance at Santa Anita in his dirt debut.

The Lumber Guy, who set the pace in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial two weeks ago

before weakening to fifth, merits a look cutting back in distance. The gray

crushed the opposition in his first two starts around one turn, beating New

York-bred maiden foes over the inner track by 9 1/4 lengths, and then romping by

4 1/4 lengths in the seven-furlong Miracle Wood at Laurel in late February.

Adirondack King, a restricted stakes winner at two for John Servis, finished

third behind Secret Circle in a division of the Grade 3 Southwest two back, but

endured a wide journey around both turns in the Grade 2 Rebel last time and

settled for seventh. Another briefly on the classic trail was Dan and Sheila, a

Todd Pletcher trainee who jumped from a maiden debut win into the Grade 3

Lecomte, where he rallied for fourth after trailing the field of 13 at one

point. He was not as effective in the Grade 3 Gotham last out, wilting to 11th

after racing wide down the backside.

Right to Vote, third behind Derby contenders Union Rags and Alpha in last

fall's Grade 1 Champagne, returned to competition in a Gulfstream allowance on

March 24, but only narrowly gutted out a head victory in a modest time of 1:16

4/5 for 6 1/2 furlongs.

Completing the Jerome field is Term Loan, who set a slow pace to take a

one-mile maiden event over the inner track on March 17 in his fifth lifetime

attempt.

Earlier in the program, five state-bred fillies and mares will travel one

mile in the $75,000

Northern Willy. The potential favorite is Miss Valentine, a multiple

overnight stakes winner last season who ran second in the Grade 3 Monmouth Oaks.